It's a Winchester Thing
by Winchestergirl5
Summary: SEQUEL to Supernatural: The Next Generation. It's 2031, and nearly a year and half later. With Jude and Anna's pending nuptials,;John and Renee's on and off again relationship; Cole's new love interest; Victoria, Flynn, and Haley involved with hunting; and Iz and Jackson in high school; some new faces; and Dean and Meredith the same, there's more than enough drama to go around.
1. Dear Diary

**August 18, 2031**

"Hey Mom, where's your old guitar?" Victoria asked.

"It's in the attic, why?" Meredith asked back, curiously. She took a moment to glance up from the papers that she was grading to look at Victoria.

"Oh, well I was wondering if Haley and I could use it. Haley wants me to teach her and it'd be helpful if we could have two," Victoria replied.

"Sure, go ahead and look," Meredith answered.

"Smells great in here," Victoria complimented, changing the subject.

"Thanks. I figured I could bake and while things were in the oven or water was boiling, I'd be able to get some grading done," Meredith said.

"That makes sense… But seriously, Mom, grading papers on a Saturday? Really?" Victoria asked.

"Well, they've got to be done before Monday," Meredith said back.

Victoria chuckled, "Hey, I wasn't the one that gave a test on summer reading this early into the year."

Meredith looked up at her daughter, letting out a small laugh, "Jesus. You sound like your father. Yeah, I get it. I dug my own personal hell," she answered, playfully.

"I'm just so darn witty," she bragged, jokingly.

Meredith chuckled, "Yeah. Well, go ahead and look for the guitar. I'm not saying you'll find anything. We've got so much crap up in the attic I don't even know if you'll be able to get through the door."

"We'll be fine, Mom," Victoria reassured, before hurrying back upstairs to Haley.

"What'd your Mom say?" Haley asked as Victoria returned to her room.

"She said it'd be fine. Come on," Victoria replied, going towards the attic, Haley following. They went all the way down the hallway, to the door that led to another set of stairs that led right into an attic. She opened the door, and scurried up the stairs with her cousin, before settling into the box-filled attic.

"Wow, that's a lot of stuff," Haley said, her eyes wide.

"Mom really wasn't kidding when she said that," Victoria added.

"Alright, you take the right side, I'll take the left," Haley said, as they decided to divide and conquer the mess. Victoria searched around, pushing boxes aside and almost tripping over old toys from when they were kids.

"I mean, you'd think a guitar would be easy to spot in here," Victoria started. She kicked a box to the side and then saw the guitar leaning against the backwall of the attic. "Ah! Found it!" She made her way towards the guitar but then stopped when she saw a box labeled "Twins' baby stuff." She kneeled down beside the box before beginning to go through it all.

"Oh my God. I think I found Flynn and I's baby stuff," Victoria smiled, gingerly opening the box.

"Hey what's this?" Haley asked, grabbing Victoria's attention.

"What?" Victoria asked, standing up and walking over to Haley's spot on the far left side of the attic. Haley had carefully opened up the brown box and had pulled out several knives, a couple of newspaper articles, and a file filled with research.

"Oh my God, are you serious? You found my mom and dad's old hunting equipment," Victoria exclaimed, upon seeing the objects that had come out of the box. Haley pulled out a few more things, looking them over.

"This is so cool. Man, I wish I parents would let us hunt, not that there's much to hunt anymore," Haley said.

"Then again that's a good thing. After the whole "First" thing freshmen year, I don't know if that's all that bad of a thing. It was fun while it lasted though…" Victoria chuckled.

"I second that. Dad and Mom had like, no lives back then and neither did you during the whole "First" thing," Haley replied.

"You know, our dads barely even had to a real junior year. Like, there wasn't that whole pressure for college and stuff. They were usually on the road with Grandpa," Victoria said.

"Yeah, Dad told me about that, even though he doesn't really like to talk about it much. My guess is he doesn't want to give us any ideas," Haley said, causing Victoria to laugh. "That's kind of crazy though. Then again, junior year would probably be a lot less hectic if we were out on the road hunting demons."

"Agreed," Victoria chuckled. "Well, it'd be a different kind of hectic!"

"Look at this," Haley said, kneeling next to another hunting box. She pulled out black composition book. The box had a couple of composition books, along with a yearbook, and some other memorabilia.

"What is it?" Victoria asked, rushing over to see what her cousin had found. This attic was getting even more interesting by the second.

"There are these composition notebooks. I think… I think they're diaries," Haley replied, aimlessly flipping through them.

"For who?" Victoria asked.

"I think they were your mom's," Haley replied. There was a silence where the two girls were trying to decide what exactly they wanted to do with the diaries. At that moment, the two girls turned to each other and said, "Let's read them!"

"Here, I think this one is the first," Haley said. Victoria reached for it but then paused.

"Oh wait, maybe you should read them aloud. You'll be proof reader because I really don't want to know any… details about… stuff," Victoria said.

"You think there's sex in it?" Haley asked, curiously.

"Well, they made me and my brothers, didn't they?" Victoria teased.

"Okay fine," Haley said chuckling, taking the composition notebook and turning it to the first page. The two girls sat down on top of a couple of boxes lined up next to each other and began to read.

"May 30, 1995. Dear Diary…" Haley began to read.

* * *

"I checked online. It said it would be on time…" Anna said, checking her watch.

"It always takes a little while to get down from the gate to the baggage claim, anyways," Jude reassured. "Or maybe she's already getting her bags. I mean, there are a lot of people over there. We could've missed her."

Anna scanned the crowd for the same dark brown, wavy locks as hers but again saw nothing.

"The flight said it got in on the board. I don't understand why-," Anna started.

"Anna!" they both heard someone exclaim. Jude and Anna turned towards the direction that they had heard the voice coming from, to see Anna's younger sister heading their way with a medium suitcase rolling behind her. "Sorry I'm late. I stopped to get a coffee and there was a huge line. You wouldn't even believe it!"

"Oh, it's fine! We weren't worried at all," Anna lied, causing Jude to chuckle. Anna rushed over to her sister, Jude following closely behind, as she pulled the girl into a hug. "It's so good to see you."

"You too. I'm finally back from Europe and here to say," the girl proclaimed.

"And only a train ride away from Pennsylvania," Anna said.

"Don't push your luck," the girl replied. Anna chuckled in response, before the two parted.

"Jude, good to see you," she said, standing up on her tiptoes to hug him.

"You too, Michaela," he answered.

"Thanks for letting me stay with you guys until school starts. The parents are in some small African country I can't pronounce working on the AIDS epidemic," Michaela started.

"Burkina Faso," Anna and Jude both said in unison, reminding Michaela of the country that the Peters parents were in.

"Right. You doctors…" she chuckled, shaking her head.

"But anyways, why don't we get to the car and back to Jude's. You hungry?" Anna asked, changing the subject.

"Starving, actually," Michaela answered.

"Well, you've come on just the right day. We're having a birthday party and knowing my giant family, we'll have tons of food," Jude added.

"Oh for who?" Michaela asked, like a dog who's ears perked up.

"Jude, actually," Anna said, proudly, squeezing his hand once.

"But, I thought our birthday was earlier this month," Michaela answered, confused.

"It's a long standing family tradition. A family friend of ours, Renee, we share a birthday month, so our parents always through us a joint birthday party in August," Jude explained.

"Ahh, gotcha. Well, this'll be interesting then," she said, as the three of them walked out of the airport together.

* * *

A few hours later, Meredith returned to the kitchen to check on her cooling cupcakes. After she finished grading a quarter of her tests, she turned her whole attention on getting ready for this afternoon's party. She was thankful that the weather permitted a cookout this afternoon. It was the perfect warm but breezy day to throw some stuff on the grill and set up a large table to eat outside on.

Meredith checked her cupcakes, making sure that they were all cool before icing them. She tore the tin foil off of the top of the mixing bowl that she had made the icing in before and went over to the cabinet drawers to get a butter knife out to ice them.

Right then, there was a knock on the door, interrupting her. Meredith, butter knife in hand, went to answer the door. She twisted the door knob, and the door swung open to reveal Bryan Gallagher at her doorstep.

He looked to Meredith, to the knife, and then back to her, "You know, if I were a demon, I don't think even a butter knife would kill me – even if it were silver."

She chuckled, rolling her eyes playfully, "Hi, Bryan. What brings you here?

"Can we talk?" he asked.

"Uh oh," Meredith said.

"What?" he asked.

"Usually when someone says 'can we talk'… are you breaking up with me?" Meredith joked.

Bryan laughed, "No. But it is… something that might be hard to hear. Do you mind if we sit down or something?"

"Uh… no, I don't," Meredith replied, hesitantly. She wondered what he was about to say. Was there another demon problem in town? She led him to the kitchen and had him sit down on one of the stools at the island counter of the kitchen while she began to ice the cupcakes. "So what's going on?"

"I'm thinking about telling the kids about hunting," he said, the words tumbling out of his mouth. "There. I said it. I think… think you and Dean were right all along."

"Well, what sparked this? I mean, you and Kitty have been intent on keeping it from them for the majority of their lives. Why now?" she asked, curiously, trying her best to help him. She wanted to make sure, before advising him how to go about it, that his intentions were well.

"Look, two years ago, it was hard to keep it from them, especially with Tyler with Victoria all the time. He started to get really suspicious. After they broke up, eventually he just dropped it, but he'll notice things from time to time. You know, a symbol on a necklace or he'll ask about my possession tattoo. The more he asks, the harder it gets to keep it from him. I mean, what if something happens? I've been presented with several opportunities to tell him about it, and if he gets attacked, I'll never be able to forgive myself. I mean, you guys know it. You're never really out of the life," Bryan explained. Meredith could tell that this was really eating away at him and the he was serious about telling his kids.

She nodded slowly, "That's why we told our kids about it. Would we've wished it had been later? Yes. Look, Bryan, I know it feels like its late, and I'll be honest. He'll probably act out when you tell him, but I think you're right. I think it will be for the best. Then, you'll have to stop worrying about keeping it from the both of them."

"Yeah…" Bryan trailed off.

Meredith sighed, picking up another cupcake and beginning to ice it, "I feel bad."

"Why?" Bryan asked.

"Because. You know, if you guys hadn't moved next to us then-," Meredith started. She hated that another family had to go through the same thing as hers, but couldn't help but think that the fact that they were next door neighbors affected that.

"Meredith, don't be silly. You and I both know that monsters are everywhere. If it hadn't been for you guys, I wouldn't have known what I was up against when the First came around. That or something else would've happened, making it impossible for Kitty and I to keep it from them," Bryan interjected, clarifying that it wasn't Meredith's family's fault at all.

"Yeah… But if you're going to do it, you should do it as soon as possible. I think they'll, at least in the long run, appreciate the truth. And if you want them to learn anything, well, you're all welcome to join us at the center," Meredith replied.

"Thank you," Bryan said.

"No problem," she shrugged, simply.

Bryan bit his lip. This was going to be even harder, especially since she was so darn nice! He hated that she was this damn nice. He took a deep breath before saying something else, "There's more."

Meredith looked up, puzzled, "What more could there be?"

"I may have said something to Victoria… a while back… that may have caused her and Tyler to break up," Bryan admitted, a guilty and remorseful look on his face.

"Bryan!" Meredith exclaimed, her eyes widening. "What did you say?!"

"I just asked her not to drag him into this. That's all. He had been asking a lot of questions and she had been lying… very well, might I add – but I was getting more and more afraid that he'd find out. At the point, it seemed like the most dangerous time to tell him and, I'm sorry, Meredith. I really am," Bryan confessed, his tone already begging for forgiveness.

She sighed, "I-, Bryan…"

"I know. I'm sorry," he said, sincerely.

Meredith frowned but thought it over. She wanted to kill him for doing that to her daughter, but he didn't technically break them up like her father did to Dean and her. She also knew, that as much as she wanted to be, she couldn't be mad at him because if she were in that position, she'd do the exact same thing, "It's okay. I mean, it's not okay okay, but…. But I understand. I wouldn't done the same thing if I were in your place."

"She never told you?" Bryan asked.

Meredith shook her head, "No. She never told any of us about the break up. Just that it was time to move on and they were growing apart – except for Haley. She probably told Haley."

"Oh. I never meant to-, to hurt her, you know?" Bryan asked.

Meredith nodded, "Yes. You know, my father did the same thing? Well, he took more drastic action, but my junior year of high school, he asked Dean to leave and lose contact until I was done with school and could "rationally" make a decision about what I wanted. So I understand… and there are far worse things you could've done, again, see exhibit A: My father."

"Us hunter parents are awful, aren't we?" he asked. Meredith, for once, in this conversation, smiled.

"Yeah, we really are," she chuckled.

He sighed, "I just don't know how to tell them."

Meredith took one good look at him before handing him a cupcake, "Here. It looks like you could use one. But after you're done, your payment for breaking my daughter's heart, is to help me with the rest of them."

"How many more do you have?" his eyes widened.

She looked back at him, letting out a small, "More than you can count."

* * *

The party was about to start and family began to trickle in to the house. Renee got out of the black, 1963 Comet Mercury, shutting the door behind her and beginning to walk towards the front door. She heard another door close and stopped.

"Stop," she said, without even turning around.

"Stop what?" John asked, innocently, locking the car up and heading up towards Renee.

"Stop looking at me like we just did something dirty," she giggled as he slipped an arm around, gently tickling her side.

"But we did just do something dirty. Chalk it up to birthday sex," John shrugged.

She rolled her eyes playfully, before stopping them so she could lay some rules down before they went into the house, "Look, nobody really knows that we're… I mean, I don't even think we know what we're doing yet so let's just… you know, cool it for now. Just for tonight. It won't kill you."

John clutched his heart dramatically and began coughing, "Actually, I think it will. Oh my God!"

"John," she groaned, chuckling.

"I'm kidding, babe," John shrugged.

"Yeah, whatever. And don't call me babe," she warned.

John shrugged again, innocently. She bit her lip as the two walked up to the porch of the Winchester house. She had this great, familiar feeling that she didn't want to go away. She was afraid that, too soon, it would, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind and reminded herself that they were only 'having fun' for now.

John pushed the door open to the house, leading Renee in. He reached for her hand but she avoided it. They agreed on cooling it for now.

"Mom, I'm home and I've got the birthday girl with me! Should I cover her eyes or something?" John asked.

"No, it's fine. People will be arriving any time soon, but Jude's back with Anna and her little sister… um… Michaela! That's her name! Go ahead outside. I'm fine, really," Meredith called from inside the kitchen.

"Sounds good," John said back. He and Renee exchanged glances, before heading towards the Winchester backyard where the majority of the family and friends awaited.

After John led Renee to the backyard, he came back into the kitchen to where his mom was. "Need any help?"

"Oh no, I'm fine. It's nice to see you and Renee spending time together. I'm glad the two of you can be friends after everything," Meredith started.

"Yeah, friends. Friends are good," John said back. She had no idea.

"Good, I'm glad. Go ahead. I'm almost done in here anyways," Meredith said. She wasn't going to say anything, but contrary to her son's ideas, she knew there was something going on between the two of them again. She wasn't blind and she recognized that look on her son's face. It was the one her husband wore way too often.

"Oh, okay. You sure?" John asked.

"I'm sure," Meredith answered. "Actually, you could take these pitchers out there." She handed her son the pitchers and he chuckled, taking them.

"I have a feeling we won't be thirsty today," he said, before taking them to the backyard. That's when it hit him. His mom hadn't asked any questions about him and Renee meaning she knew everything. Damn, the woman was good! He and Renee had had a good, yet rocky, first semester of attempting to make it work. It wasn't much of a distance, but it was a distance nonetheless and the both of them were trying to create new lives in their new surroundings – lives where they had to really make an effort to include each other.

By break, it was starting to hit them how hard this was going to be and decided to take a break. They figured, if it was meant to be, they'd find each other again. It was this summer, the summer before sophomore year began, where they were beginning to hang out again. Of course, after the third or fourth time, it was killing john to be "just friends" and things happened from there. Now he didn't even know what they were. He knew what he wanted them to be…

"Let me help you with those," a voice said.

John looked up to see Anna coming towards him, "Hey, Anna. Thanks, that'd be great."

"Does your mom need any more help?" Anna asked.

"No, I don't think so. With all these pitchers I took out? Mom apparently thinks I have four hands," John joked.

She chuckled, "Don't they all?"

"Yeah, because I'm pretty convinced they do. I have no idea how my mom managed to raise four kids – especially us," John joked.

Anna laughed, "Agreed. When I met Jude, I thought he was a handful. Then I met the rest of you."

"Hey, we're not that bad," John said.

"No, you guys are great. By the way, my sister's here. So be nice," Anna teased.

"I'm always nice," John smirked.

"UH uh. Keep little John far far away from Michaela," Anna warned, lightly.

"Hey! I resent that! Little?!" John exclaimed.

Anna laughed, "Someone needs to control that ego of yours."

"Don't worry. I'm kinda uh, well, Renee and I are-," John stammered.

"are you guys back together again?" Anna asked, her eyes widening with excitement.

"Shhh! No. I mean, yes… I don't know! We're…" John trailed off.

"You're at that phase where you're exes and don't know what you are. If you have more than just casual, it gets serious again which is scary because you broke up in the first place but if it's not, well, she's an ex. You still have feelings for her," Anna completed.

"Exactly!" John agreed. He shrugged. "I don't know. But anyways, I'll let you get back to Jude and uh, don't tell anyone we had this talk, okay?"

"What talk?" Anna asked innocently, causing John to smile.

"Dude, you're the best. If Jude doesn't marry you-," John said, his eyes widening as he covered his mouth. "Never mind. Forget I said that." Anna shot him a funny look but John was gone by the time she could ask.

Up in the attic, Victoria and Haley were finally finished reading all of Meredith's old journals.

"Oh my God. I can't believe my parents really went through all of that," Victoria said, perplexed as she set the last composition notebook down.

"I can't either. Jesus. They could make a movie out of your parents' story," Haley said back.

"Hah, I can actually see my dad's reaction right now if they turned their story into some chick flick. He'd probably have a heart attack!" Victoria laughed.

"Uncle Dean so would," Haley laughed.

"Hey, we should probably get back downstairs. We've been up here for a while now," Victoria said.

"Okay. Oh my God, I feel like I want to cry right now. You parents are just so in love…" Haley gushed.

"Honestly, I think I want to too," Victoria said. The girls exchanged laughter before hurrying back downstairs. Haley went to Victoria's room and Victoria went downstairs to see if her mom needed help setting up for the party today. Victoria hurried down the steps to see her mom washing her hands. "Need any help, Mom?"

"Nope, I'm fine. What were you and Haley doing up there for so long?" Meredith asked, casually.

"No reason…" Victoria started. She debated whether or not to tell her mom. What if she got mad? Ahhh but she couldn't contain it! "It's just, okay, so we kind of found your diaries… please don't be mad!"

Meredith chuckled, "I'm not mad at all. I… wow… I can't believe you found those!"

"It's just, you and dad went through a lot. I never knew all that. You guys are kind of amazing. Hah, Haley even said that you guys' love story could be some kind of romance film," Victoria said, laughing a little.

"I think your father would rather gauge his eyes out than be the star of a romance movie," Meredith replied.

"That's what I said!" Victoria said back.

"Well, it's sweet that you guys enjoyed it… I guess… wow, that's really weird. If it makes you feel better, Blake read my diaries and had the same reaction too," Meredith started.

"Aunt Blake? No way!" Victoria said.

"Yeah," Meredith nodded. "Hey, why don't you and Haley get ready for the party? People should be arriving any time soon."

"Yeah, alright, Mom," Victoria said, before going back upstairs to her room. She jogged up the stairs and down the hall to her room to find Haley sitting on the bed and checking her phone. "Hey, we should get ready for the party. Mom says people should start coming over any time soon."

"Yeah? Ooh, do you think I could borrow that purple sundress of yours?" Haley asked her cousin.

"Sure, but what should I wear?" Victoria asked back.

Meredith went back upstairs and heard the girls talking and laughing over something. She smiled to herself, reminiscing about the past. She could remember as if it were yesterday, when it was her and Molly deciding what to wear and giggling and gossiping over some boy at school.

"Hey, you," she heard a voice say as a pair of arms wrapped around her waist, causing her to jump.

"Dean, you scared the hell out of me!" she exclaimed, turning around to face him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Sorry, baby," he chuckled, leaned down to kiss her once. He pulled away a little before pulling her into another deeper, more passionate kiss. She kissed him back for a moment before giggling and pulling away.

"How was the garage?" she asked.

"Hey! I'm trying to kiss here," he replied, leaning in again, but Meredith pulled away.

"Wow, car grease really does you justice," she smirked, looking her handsome husband up and down.

"Ew, are you guys having a moment?" Flynn asked, passing by his parents and heading to his room. He wore some blue jeans and a white t-shirt, back from the garage with his father. "You know what? I'm just going to go. Hey Mom, I'm going to shower, but I promise I'll be down in time to capture the familial, hallmark moments of our family."

Meredith laughed, "Sounds like a plan, kiddo."

"Thanks for taking me to the garage, Dad," Flynn said.

"No problem. Next time we'll work on your car, okay?" Dean replied.

"Sure," Flynn answered, a goofy happy smile plastered on his face. "I'll be down in a second." He then went into his room, shutting the door.

"Wait for it," Meredith said. Dean and Meredith waited for what seemed like mere seconds before they heard it.

"Victoria, I need to shower! I've been at the garage all day and Mom needs me to take pictures," Flynn yelled.

"I'm almost done! Jesus. Haley and I have to do makeup," Victoria yelled back.

"Do it in your room!" Flynn argued.

"We only have one mirror," Victoria snapped.

"Ughh," Flynn said.

"Fine! Take the bathroom!" Victoria yelled, before the sound of the door slamming rang out.

"Well, they sure inherited our tempers," Dean said.

Meredith sighed, "Unfortunately."

"I'm going to go downstairs and change. Come watch?" Dean smirked.

Meredith laughed, rolling her eyes playfully, "You really know how to sell a girl." She took his hand and followed him downstairs to their room before the party officially begun.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Were those first and last scenes awfully familiar? Hm... I wonder where they're from. Sorry this wasn't published sooner. I am now getting going with this story, reading to take off! Let me know what you think :)


	2. The Birthday

"Dude!" Cole exclaimed, as a football flew past his hear nearly missing him by a couple of inches.

He was replied with a small, carless, cocky shrug from his cousin John, saying back in a witty retort, "Dude."

Cole rolled his eyes playfully as Renee walked behind John, whispering in his ear, "Be nice."

"I am nice. You should know," John smirked, whispering the last part in her ear. Renee pushed him a way playfully, giggling.

"John, stop!"

"You love it," he shot back.

She rolled her eyes playfully, pushing him away, "You wish." She walked over to Cole, giving him a big hug. "Good to see you!"

"Yeah, you too! Happy birthday!" Cole smiled.

"Aw, thanks. You ready for college, yet?" Renee asked, curiously.

Cole took a deep breath, "Yeah, I think so. It's going to be a huge adjustment…"

"No kidding! You're moving to New York City. I mean, especially coming Sioux Falls, South Dakota, it's definitely a huge adjustment," Renee exclaimed, excitedly.

"I know, right? But I'll still take the train down to see you guys, if you'll have me," Cole said, looking from John to Renee. Renee froze. 'You guys?' What did he know? Did he know that she and John had been hooking up ever since the fourth of July? She thought no one had known… She wouldn't be surprised if John had told him but still. They promised to keep it to themselves.

"Yeah, of course we will," John said, shooting Renee a look.

Renee brushed off her last thought and nodded, "Of course."

Cole looked from John and Renee suspiciously. What was going on with them? He had noticed some awkward tension between them ever since the fourth of July but now they were being really weird. The first half of the summer had been terribly awkward any time John and Renee were in the same room but after the Fourth of July picnic with all the families, it seems that they had put the awkwardness behind them. Yet, here they were. Cole shifted uncomfortably.

"Cole, hi!" a voice said, interrupting the three.

"Anna! How're you?" Cole asked, his eyes lighting up and smiling as she approached the three, giving Cole a hug.

"Good, good. You?" Anna asked back.

"I'm good," Cole answered.

Anna turned her attention towards John and Renee, "Hey, do you mind if I steel him for a moment?"

"Nope, not at all!" John said.

"Nope," Renee replied, still reeling from the awkward moment and revelation that someone might actually know.

"Great, thanks," Anna smiled, before guiding Cole away from John and Renee.

"What's up?" Cole asked, curiously.

"Oh, it's no big deal. My sister flew in to town today and I thought you should meet. She's going to be a freshman at NYU this year too so I figured it wouldn't be a bad idea to introduce the two of you. I just thought it would be a good idea for the both of you to have a familiar face before you leave for school," Anna answered.

"Oh okay," Cole replied, as Anna lead him over to Jude who was talking to a girl that was a few inches shorter, but looked very much like Anna. They both have long, wavy-curly, dark brown locks and the same delicate, fox-like facial features.

"Michaela, I want you to meet Jude's cousin, Cole," Anna said, introducing the two.

The girl smiled at Cole, "Hi, it's nice to meet you. Anna told me you're going to NYU this year."

"Yeah, I am," Cole replied.

"Sweet, me too. What's your major or have you not decided yet?" Michaela asked.

"Uh, I'm looking at international studies at the moment," Cole answered.

"Oh yeah?" Michaela asked, very intrigued by the handsome man that her sister had introduced her too. Damn, why were all of these Winchesters so damn attractive? It's like their whole family was entrancing – one walked in, and one after the other, the all arrived at the party, the next one more beautiful than the next.

"Yeah. What about you?" Cole asked.

"History for now, but I've got to decide what I actually want to do with it," Michaela answered.

Cole shrugged, "You've got time! But that's really cool you like history. It was my favorite in high school. I'm actually thinking about taking it up as a minor."

"Oh yeah?" Michaela smiled, so glad that Anna had introduced them now. This party had just gotten a lot better.

"Yeah. Here, can I get you something to drink?" Cole asked.

"Yeah, that sounds great, actually," Michaela answered.

_"So he's a gentleman too. Shit…"_ She thought to herself.

"What're you drinking tonight?" Cole asked.

"Are you trying to get me drunk and take advantage of me?" Michaela asked, jokingly.

"Yeah… that's what you're supposed to do in college, right?" Cole asked back in the same tone.

Michaela laughed. The boy had a sense of humor too, "Should I be taking note of this? I guess I know who to avoid at parties."

Cole chuckled, "I can also get you something non-alcoholic, you know. But if you're in the mood for something, Dad always buys shiner for these shindigs."

She smiled, "Sounds great."

"Okay. I'll be back," Cole replied, before leaving to go get drinks. Before Michaela even noticed, Anna had sidled up to her.

"So what do you think of him?" Anna asked.

"He's funny… and cute… and why is this family so perfect?" Michaela asked back.

"I knew you'd like him!" Anna exclaimed.

"Shh. No! No one said anything about 'like.' I just me the guy!" she said, shushing her older sister.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just wishful thinking. I know," Anna said.

"So you were trying to set me up! I knew it!" Michaela called out.

"So what if I was?" Anna shrugged. "Look, he's a sweet a guy and deserves a good girl. He just got out of somewhat of a rough relationship this past December and I just thought you two might like each other… don't worry. No pressure."

"Uh oh. Bad relationship?" Michaela asked.

"No. I mean, it was just long distance," Anna shrugged off, knowing her sister's fear of messy. If a boy was messy, she'd run the other way. She was too afraid being hurt by the emotionally unavailable.

"Huh," Michaela nodded slowly.

Over by the back porch, Meredith tiptoed through the door, running her fingers through her messy hair and adjusting her shirt so that it would sit straight instead of crookedly. She grabbed a beer from the cooler and glanced down to the yard to see the tables all pushed together with a table cloth thrown over it for tonight's dinner.

"Hey, pretty lady. Where've you been?" Molly said, nudging her playfully.

"Hey, sorry. I just needed to run inside and take care of something," Meredith started, shrugging.

"For twenty minutes?" Molly asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah… it was nothing," Meredith shrugged, innocently.

"Oh. Well, why didn't you ask me for some help?" Molly asked.

"I-," Meredith started.

"Did you do something slutty?" Molly asked, playfully.

"There you are! I missed you. You left me all alone to-, oh, hey, Molly!" Dean said, his arms already wrapped around his wife's waist as he acknowledged the both of them.

"Hey," Molly replied, trying to contain her laughter.

"Hey, Meredith, Jude said he wanted to talk to you. He told me to tell you if I saw you. Where've you guys been?" Anna asked, coming up to Molly, Dean, and Meredith.

"Okay. I'll find him in a minute," Meredith replied. "Babe, can you give Molly, Anna and I moment?"

"What?! Just remember. You're my wife, Meredith Winchester," Dean joked.

"Oh? Is that what I am? Your wife?" Meredith teased.

"Yeah, babe. Don't you remember? There was that one day where we got all dressed up and you wore that white dress?" Dean asked, playing along.

"Ohhhhhh. I guess I should stop seeing other men," Meredith sighed.

"Quit, you," he chuckled, tickling her and causing Meredith to squirm in his arms, desperate to remove his hands from her.

"Dean!" she squealed, shrugging him off of her.

"Hey, Dad! Come be on my team!" John yelled from the backyard.

"Alright, coming!" Dean yelled back, kissing Meredith on the cheek and jogging down the porch steps, to the yard.

"Yeah, I bet he was. You did something slutty," Molly said, in a sing-song voice.

"Hey! Didn't you hear him? I'm his wife so it's not exactly slutty," Meredith shot back, playfully.

"Yeah, but during your son and my daughter's birthday party? Definitely slutty," Molly replied.

Anna chuckled, "Regardless, I'm still amazed that you two have been married for this long and still manage to keep the same spark."

"Oh no. When you've known them for this long, it gets tiring," Molly teased.

Meredith jokingly glared at her best friend before sighing, "Yeah, honestly, it's just luck. That and good lingerie…."

"Never underestimate the power of good lingerie," Molly added. Meredith nodded in agreement and Anna simply chuckled.

* * *

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday Jude and Renee, happy birthday to you," everyone sang in unison and not completely on key.

Jude and Renee exchanged glances, before blowing out the forty two candles - nineteen for Renee and twenty three for Jude. The rest of the family rejoiced in the celebration of their loved ones before Meredith and Sam began to cut and serve cake.

"Oh! Right here. I call next piece," John announced, after both Jude and Renee had pieces of cake.

"I get first bite. I'm in the birthday girl," Renee teased.

"We're the birthday girl. Wait- never mind," Jude corrected, before shaking his head.

"Yeah, babe. That just sounds... no," Anna chuckled, her sister and Cole exchanging glances, laughing as well.

Flynn snorted, "Did you just call yourself the birthday girl?"

"Shut up," Jude groaned.

"Here, let me help, babe," Dean said, taking a plate with a piece of cake from Meredith.

"Thanks," Meredith replied, leaning in and kissing Dean quickly.

"You two... you just won't quit it with the PDA," Ethan teased, getting up to help as well.

"I'd think you'd be used to it by now," Meredith teased her friend back.

Ethan shook his head, "Nope, and I've had to witness it ever since you two were sixteen," he sighed.

Upon hearing those words, Victoria and Haley exchanged glances, before giggling a little. The journals they had stumbled on had completely changed the way the girls looked at love. Victoria had no idea that her parents had such an epic romance. She had always known that her parents were head over heels for each other - even till this day - but she had never quite understood why. Ever since finding out everything they went through, she got it. And just hearing her mother's words like that, it was a story that was so much closer to her.

* * *

Everyone was starting to clean up and leave, so Jude took this as an opportunity to steal away with Anna.

"Okay, I know it's your birthday and everything, but I am not fucking you when your parents are downstairs and could use some help cleaning up," Anna warned, with a playful chuckle.

"That's not what I brought you up here for," Jude laughed, rolling his eyes jokingly.

"Then what did you bring me up here for?" Anna asked, looking around Jude's old bedroom.

"I just wanted to talk," Jude shrugged, nervously.

Anna raised an eyebrow, "About...?"

"Just.. about... the future," Jude said, finally finding the right words to say.

Anna nodded, "Okay, let's talk. About... the future." She was almost nervous because she could tell that Jude was nervous and had no idea why. What could he possibly have to say about the future? She tried to push the thoughts out of her head and waited for him to say something. "What about it?"

"Well, we're starting sophomore year together... and uh, well, I always thought, that being a doctor, I'd never have any time for a life, you know? See, my parents have this... epic romance thing going on so as a kid, I grew up seeing that. Family was something I always wanted to have but never thought it'd be possible before I at least started my residency," Jude started.

"Okay," Anna said, her heart beginning to flutter. She had a feeling she knew where this was going. She had been suspected it every now and then, but wasn't sure she should trust that instinct.

"But then we found each other again and... and although I'm far away from my family, I feel right home with you," Jude began.

"Me too," Anna smiled.

"So..." Jude started. He pulled something out of his pocket, causing Anna to gasp, as he got down on one knee. "I've been thinking about this for weeks now and then when we finally got here, my mom and I talked. She thought that if the time was right, I could give you. And the time... well, the time never seemed more perfect." Jude pulled out the engagement ring that Dean had given to Meredith all those years ago. "Anna Elena Peters, will you marry?"

Anna gasped, tears coming to her eyes, "Oh my God... Jude... this is, I mean, I thought- I suspected maybe you-, but this is so-, yes. Yes, I will, Jude Winchester!"

"Really?" Jude asked, leaping to his feet, a large grin on his face.

"Yes," she nodded, kissing him. "Yes, yes, yes. So many times, yes."

"Here," Jude said, taking her hand and putting the ring on her finger.

"It's beautiful, Jude. Your mom is really okay with my having this?" Anna asked.

Jude nodded, "Yes. It was her idea, actually. It was my grandmother's and then hers, and uh... well, now it's yours."

Anna bit her lip, "It's beautiful, Jude."

Downstairs, everyone was already leaving after the parents had helped each other with the clean up from the birthday party.

"Alright, sweetie, we're heading out to the car," Molly said to Iz.

"Okay, coming, Mom," Iz said. "See you, kid." She directed to Jackson.

"Hey, I'm only a year younger than you," he protested.

"So?" she shrugged her shoulders.

He made a face at her, before pulling her in for a hug, "Bye, Iz."

"Bye," she said, hugging him back as the two made their way out of the house.

John followed Renee to the front door, as the two stood in the hallway.

"So uh, happy birthday," John started.

"Thanks," she said back. "Tell your mom I said thank you for everything. I-, having these birthday parties with the whole family every year is always the best way to end the summer."

"Oh, she loves it, but I don't have to tell you that," John answered.

Renee giggled and nodded, "Yeah. Well, I'm going to get going. I'm just going to catch a ride back with my parents and Iz."

John nodded, "Yeah, okay."

"Okay," Renee answered, shooting him a small smile. She turned around, to leave, taking a step towards the door.

"Wait," John started.

Renee turned around as John stepped toward her, repeating, "Happy birthday, Renee," before leaning down and kissing her on the forehead. He pulled away from her, just long enough to open the door for her.

"Thanks," she mumbled, utterly confused and as much as she didn't want to admit it, high on love, as she left the house.

* * *

Author's Note: Alright, I know it's been forever. and by forever, I mean, like two months... literally. I'm so so so sorry, but I've been so busy and am now trying to slowly, come back to it. :) Bear with me.

Also, I debated whether or not to give Renee Meredith's ring but it felt right for Jude to have it since he's the oldest. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this reading and I am slowly but surely, getting back to writing. I promise!


	3. Who Knows What'll Happen

"What do you think about a December wedding? That seems to be the earliest," Meredith asked, looking over at Anna as the two sat at the kitchen table, wedding magazines and printed pages sprawled across the table.

"Jude and I have been talking a lot about it over the past week and we were thinking of actually having a long engagement. Neither of us is in much of a rush and well, we thought maybe we could wait until the summer," Anna answered.

Meredith nodded, "And that way the kids will be out of school. It works perfectly."

"Actually… that's something we wanted to talk to you about too," Anna started.

"Oh?" Meredith asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We wanted to have the wedding here, if that's alright with you. I mean, Sioux Falls has been such an important place to Jude and I've grown to love it a lot. It's where he grew up and where his family is. This is his home and… well, honestly, this is the closest I've had to a home and an, as all of you say, "apple pie" family as well," Anna answered.

Meredith grinned, "Of course. Dean and I thought maybe you'd want to do it in Pennsylvania but we'd love for it be here."

Anna nodded, "We do."

Meredith chuckled, "It's… ironic that we're apple pie."

"Well, if you count out the whole demon thing… but your family is… a family – more of a family than mine will ever be," Anna said.

Meredith nodded, "Well, now you're a part of it… officially. We've pretty much thought of you as part of the family ever since Jude brought you home that first Christmas."

"God, this ring is beautiful, Meredith. I-, I really can't thank you enough," Anna sighed, admiring the ring on her finger.

Meredith chuckled, "Don't thank me! It was quite easy to give it to Jude, honestly. But yeah, I know how you feel. It meant a lot to me when Dean gave it to me as well."

"Yeah, I hear that's a great story," Anna said.

"It's a bit of a long story," Meredith sighed.

"We have time," Anna shrugged.

Meredith nodded, "Okay."

**~Flashback~  
**_  
"You don't think we're moving too fast, do you? The whole… moving in thing?" Meredith asked, curiously._

_Dean shook his head, "No, do you?"_

_"Nope," Meredith replied._

_"In fact, I'd like to move a little faster," Dean started out._

_Meredith shot him a puzzled look, "What do you mean?"_

_Dean sighed as if he was trying to decide whether to say something or not. He looked away and took a deep breath before looking back at her, "I want you to marry me."_

_**What? **_

**~End Flashback~**

* * *

_**~Flashback~**_

"_Atta boy!" Dean hollered, as his son caught the baseball. Jude grinned widely, before throwing the ball right back to Dean as Dean caught it perfectly._

_"Dad, when are we going to go shooting again?" Jude asked, curiously._

_Dean shrugged, trying to mask his nerves, "Uh… I don't know. We're going to skip the guns today, kid. You know I'd much rather be teaching you how to play ball, right?"_

_"I already know how to play ball, Dad," Jude groaned._

_"Jude, you're only eight years old. Enjoy being a kid for just a little bit," Dean persuaded, throwing the ball back to Jude. Just staggered backwards, before catching it in his hands, smiling down and staring at his accomplishment._

_"Can I do both?" Jude asked, eagerly, throwing the ball back._

_Dean chuckled, "Yeah, you can do both. Just thought we could get a little balance in sometimes. Why are you so eager anyways, huh?"_

_Jude was silent for a moment and threw the ball back to his dad a couple more times before finally answering._

_"I want to protect you and Mommy next time something bad happens," Jude admitted, throwing the ball once more to his father. Dean caught the ball, freezing as he heard his son's answer. He took a couple of steps towards his son._

_"Hey, you have nothing to worry about, okay? Your mom and I aren't going anywhere. And besides, that's not your job. That's ours, okay?" Dean comforted, softly, bending down to get on his son's level._

_Jude nodded, "I know. I just don't like it when they hurt you and Mom."_

_"Me either, kiddo, but you know what? Nothing's going to happen to us, you got that? I can promise you that," Dean said._

_"How?" Jude asked._

_"I just can," Dean replied._

_"But how do you know?" Jude asked, persistently._

_Dean sighed, "Because. We're not going to let anything happen to you, John, or the twins. We've been through enough as a family that we know there's no way that we're letting it go."_

_Jude sighed, "Okay."_

_Dean nodded, before getting back up from his crouching position on the ground, "Jesus, kid!_ _Since when did you get so tall?"_

_Jude laughed at his dad, shaking his head._

_**~End Flashback~**_

"Dad?" Jude asked, pulling Dean from his memory as the two walked around the Sioux Falls park.

"Yeah?" Dean asked back, a little distracted.

"Just checking. You went away for a little bit," Jude answered.

"Oh yeah. Uh… so yeah, you and Anna and the wedding. I think it's great that you guys want to have it here. Your mother will be pleased," Dean said.

"This is my home, Dad," Jude shrugged simply.

Dean smiled. He loved to hear his son call this home. Back when he was Jude's age, he could barely call anything home - unless that counted the skeezy motels they were always put up in. When Dean was twenty three, Sam was away at college, barely in touch, and Dean was starting to go on hunts by himself, pursue random women for one night, and drink until he found the next hunt. Jude, on the other hand, was getting married and had two places to call home. Dean knew that he and Meredith had done it right this time.

* * *

Victoria lay on her stomach, sprawled out across her bed as she flipped through the pages of her mother's old diaries. She had migrated the diaries from their box in the attic, to the floor of her bedroom ever since. It's like the words wouldn't leave her head, so instead, she decided to read them over again - especially with all of the wedding talk.

She understood why her parents were still madly in love like it was the first time. They really did have that epic romance thing going on. They had been through so much it would be impossible to not appreciate every little thing.

_**~Flashback~**_

_"Look, Meredith, I've uh, I've been carrying this around, oh shit," Dean said as he reached off the bed for his leather jacket. He ended up falling off and I laughed at his clumsiness. Dean got back on the bed and sat under the covers, his jacket on his lap. He reached into one of the pockets and pulled out a small, little, black pouch._

_"What's-," I started._

_"Dad gave me this before he died and before he told me about Sam. He said to me, 'I want you to have this. I want you to give this to that special someone, although I think you might have already found her'. It was my mom's," Dean explained._

_"Okay," I said._

_"I, of course had no idea what he was talking about but when I was back at Bobby's I just started thinking about you and high school and… everything. I think Dad knew that we were ready for marriage even back then," Dean chuckled._

_I laughed, "Well it's probably a good thing that we didn't get married then."_

_"Yeah, but I've been carrying this around for a while. I asked Bobby if I could ask you and after many long pauses and awkward sighs he said yes. I wanted to wait for the perfect time and now… I don't know, it just sort of slipped out," Dean explained. He shrugged innocently and looked at me._

_"You really asked Bobby?" I asked, surprised._

_"Yeah," Dean answered._

_"Wow, I'm impressed," I said back._

_"And he didn't kill you?" I asked, puzzled._

_"Nope. I thought he might though," Dean replied._

_I giggled, "Well I didn't need to know that much but yeah, I'll marry you, Dean Winchester." He sighed with relief and I laughed. A smile spread across his face and I leaned in and kissed him. "We're really getting married?"_

_"I guess so," Dean answered. "Oh, and I guess I should do this. Meredith Isobel Summers, will you marry me?"_

_I giggled, happier than ever, "Yes, I will, Dean Winchester." He took my hand and slid the ring onto my ring finger of my left hand. I looked down and smiled._

_**~End Flashback~**_

"Vi?" she heard a voice ask. She instantly recognized it as her brother's so instead of paying attention, she simply just acknowledged that he was there.

"Huh?" she asked without lifting her eyes from the page.

"What are you reading? You've been cooped up in your room all day. Come on! Go out and do something. It's so nice out," Flynn encouraged.

"Mm. Give me five minutes," Victoria replied in the same tone as before. Flynn narrowed his eyes at her, furrowing his brow, knowing there was no way she'd be done in five minutes. "Oh, don't give me that look."

"What look?" Flynn asked, noticing that she hadn't looked up at him at all.

"The one where you narrow your eyes at me and furrow your brow. You know... this one?" Victoria answered, looking up at him with the same look on her face.

"That's scary, you know that?" Flynn exclaimed.

Victoria shrugged, "You're my twin."

"What are you reading anyways?" Flynn asked, going over to Victoria's bed.

"Just Mom's old diaries," Victoria said.

"No way! I want to see. Where'd you find them?" Flynn asked, eagerly. He reached out to grab the composition notebook before Victoria snapped it shut, snatching it up quickly.

"Uh uh. Besides, you wouldn't want to read them anyways. There kind of... chick flick-y," Victoria replied.

"Oh come on," Flynn protested.

"Dear Diary, long story short, I'm engaged. Dean came back last night and we made love for-," Victoria began to read.

"Woah, okay maybe I don't want to read this," Flynn said, stopping her.

"See?" Victoria teased.

"Yeah, whatever," Flynn grumbled. "Hey, you should get out more. Come take a walk with me or something."

Victoria sighed. Her brother had a point. She shrugged, "Why not? Give me five minutes, okay?"

"Sure. I'll meet you on the porch," Flynn replied.

"Cool," Victoria said, before returning to the journals and letting Flynn leave himself.

After a few more minutes, Victoria got up, closing the book and putting some shorts on instead of the pajama pants she had on. She pulled off her high school hoodie and threw on a t-shirt before slipping on her flip flops and heading out of her house towards the front porch. She checked her cell phone she already held in her hand. It had been five minutes...

Where are you, Flynn...?

"Hey," she heard a voice say, from across the yard. She turned around, looking behind her at the boy next door.

"Hey," she said back. Tyler was on the last step of his front porch, car keys in hand, and began to walk over to their house.

"My dad wanted me to drop this off. Looks like the mail man accidentally put this in our box instead of yours," Tyler explained as he reached the front porch, handing the envelope to Victoria.

"Oh, uh, thanks," she said, meekly. She wasn't sure what to say to Tyler. All last year, they had barely spoken, but a small hello or a polite smile in the halls when they were forced to interact. This had been about as much conversation they had had ever since her mom had been in the hospital.

"So uh, how have you been?" Tyler asked.

"Good... good. How about you?" she asked back.

"Good," Tyler answered.

"Good," Victoria replied. The two chuckled at the awkwardness. "So uh... senior year, huh?"

"Yeah. It's a lot easier than junior year. I'll give you that," Tyler chuckled.

"Yeah, I hear this year's going to be hell," Victoria replied.

"It won't be too bad. But I mean, if you need any help... I was once, when the dinosaurs roamed the earth, a junior too," Tyler joked. Victoria laughed, grateful that someone was making an effort to ease the tension. She hated that she wasn't making an effort at all. "so don't be afraid to ask, okay?"

"Yeah, of course. Uh, thanks," she replied, shocked at his answer.

"No problem," Tyler shrugged, with a small smile.

"Hey, you ready to go?" Flynn said, closing the front door behind him. "Hey, Tyler... what're you doing-?"

"I was just-," Tyler started.

"He was just dropping this off," Victoria replied, simultaneous to Tyler's answer.

"Gotcha," Flynn said, eyeing the two of them suspiciously. "Well, we better get going before the sun goes down."

"Yeah," Victoria answered. "I'll see you later, Tyler."

Tyler nodded, "I'll see you," before heading back towards his house as the twins just stood there.

"So what was that?" Flynn asked.

"If I knew, I'd tell you," Victoria answered, shaking her head.

"How about we just go then?" Flynn asked.

"Sounds perfect," Victoria replied, trying to shake off the awkward tension. At the moment she realized it wasn't just awkward anymore. They were beginning to have normal conversations now... he was kind... she had almost forgotten that. Would there be any way that they could be friends? Or did she still have feelings for him?

Victoria was walking towards the top of her driveway with her brother as she saw Tyler getting into his car and backing out slowly. They reached the top of the driveway just as Tyler was driving by. She wondered where he was going. Was he still dating that girl he was dating last year? She knew she shouldn't wonder because she was... too complicated for Tyler. She shot him a small smile and he smiled back, before he sped off to wherever he was going.

* * *

Sunday morning came, and with it, Cole, John, Jude, and Renee were off to school. The parents had helped out in driving them to the airport but had left knowing they wouldn't get past security.

"Alright, you two. Have a safe trip, alright?" Jude said to Cole and Michaela as the cluster of people began to disperse in order to find their flight gates.

"Yeah, you too. And by the way, thank you so much for letting us stay here. Thank your family too. They've been so generous," Michaela said.

"It's not problem," John shrugged.

"Well, thank you," she said again.

"You'll have to take a train in to Pennsylvania and visit us - both of you," Anna suggested.

"Sounds great," Michaela said."Bye."

"Bye," Anna said, hugging her sister. They all exchanged hugs before Cole said something.

"We should get going. Can't miss our flight," Cole said. Michaela nodded before joining him as the two began to make their way to the opposite end of the airport.

"Alright, well, we better get going too," Renee brought up.

"Yeah. I actually have to pee. Why don't we go put our stuff down and then the boys can wait with our stuff," Anna suggested.

"I like how you think," Renee chuckled. The two girls rolled their suitcases in stride together, as they began walking.

"Here we go," John mumbled, taking his suitcase and beginning to walk behind them with Jude.

"Sophomore year.. what're you thinking about, man?" Jude asked.

A smile crept up on John's lips as he said, "It's a new year, dude. Who knows what'll happen?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**Alright, here's the next chapter. It's a little random, so I apologize for that. I'm slowly but surely making a comeback. Hope some of you have stuck it out with me! I've got lots in store for this next installment.

Of what's to come:

polyvore . com (slash) its_winchester_thing/set?id=62082014#stream_box

Just remove the spaces.

(slash) = /


	4. The Start

Author's Note: Ok, I know it's been forever and I know I said I'd be back to writing ASAP but things have just been coming along really slowly. Hopefully a super long chapter will make up for it? Hope yall are still reading!

* * *

"Hm," Meredith sounded, reading the article in the newspaper. She carefully examined each detail, suspicious of something she feared most. It couldn't be starting again.

Dean let out a long, "Hmmm," as he continued to read his article in the newspaper. Only few moments passed before both set their newspapers down simultaneously and staring at each other.

"Did you hear about the-," they both began.

"Oh, nope. Go ahead," Meredith said.

"No, no, no, baby, you go ahead," Dean said.

"Oklahoma... some weird killings... demonic symbols carved into the victims' bodies," Meredith informed.

"Wisconsin... several suicides in one week. Families of victims claim that their loved ones were going insane - like seeing ghosts of their dead loved ones," Dean replied.

Meredith nodded and both let out a sigh.

"It's starting up again," Meredith said, hesitantly.

"I know... I mean, we took care of a couple jobs over the summer but this... it's been getting more frequent, Mer. I've talked to some old friends. They're seeing some weird stuff - a lot more demonic activity since we ganked the First," Dean said back.

Meredith bit her lip taking a few moments to think over what she was about to say, "Well, how about this? You take Victoria with you to Wisconsin and Flynn and I will look into the Oklahoma thing this weekend."

"Deal," Dean said.

"Deal," Meredith said back, as the two locked eyes, sharing a glance filled with adoration for each other.

"What's for breakfast?" the two heard Flynn say, coming into the kitchen.

"Ooh, bagels. These are the local bakery's ones not the ones from the chain restaurants, right?" Victoria asked, following Flynn.

"Yes," Meredith chuckled in response.

"Look at you, miss locavore," Flynn teased

"I'm not a locavore. I just like the good stuff," Victoria shrugged.

Dean let out a hearty chuckle, deep in his chest, "A girl after my own heart. You're so my kid."

Flynn and Victoria exchanged glances, "Like you were questioning?" she asked, stopping as she finished slicing her bagel.

"What?! No!" Dean exclaimed, his eyes wide.

Meredith laughed, "No, no, no. Definitely no." Meredith and Dean exchanged glances, sharing a secretive smile.

"Okay, ew," Flynn said, returning to the orange juice had had been pouring. "Pass me an everything?"

"Sure," Victoria said, tossing him a bagel. Flynn caught it perfectly and Victoria put her bagel into the toaster.

"Switch?" he asked.

"Yeah," she replied, as they switched sides so Flynn could cut his bagel and Victoria could get orange juice. "Do you guys want anything?"

"No, we're fine," Meredith said, chuckling.

"We've been up for a while now," Dean said back. The two exchanged glances. Meredith motioned to him for them to wait until the kids were at the table so that they could tell them about going on hunts this weekend. She watched them as they made their breakfast, watching to two work in tandem. She knew that someday, heaven forbid it had to happen, they'd be a great hunting.

Once the twins had sat down for breakfast, Meredith and Dean put down their newspapers.

"So do you guys have anything planned this weekend?" Meredith began.

Victoria shrugged, "I don't think so. Flynn?"

"Nothing yet," Flynn answered.

"Well, how do you feel about going out of town?" Dean proposed.

"To where?" Victoria asked

"Well, don't seem too excited," Meredith teased.

Dean sighed, "Your mother and I have seen some pretty weird stuff in the papers lately and uh... we think there are some things checking out."

"You mean, things that go bump in the night kind of stuff?" Flynn asked.

"I'm listening," Victoria leaned, her eyes lighting up now.

"We thought we'd take a little family road trip. Flynn, you and I'd go to Oklahoma while your dad and Victoria would go to Wisconsin to check out some cases," Meredith explained.

"Wait, there are two?!" Flynn exclaimed.

Dean and Meredith hesitated, exchanging glances before both answering, "Yeah."

"So it's starting again?" Victoria asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well," Meredith started.

"No," Dean said, cutting her off. "No, it's-, nothing is starting again. We're just looking into something. It's probably harmless. A regular salt and burn case, so to speak."

"Just like the summer," Meredith added.

"I'm down," Flynn shrugged.

"Yeah, sounds good," Victoria answered, nodding. She then took a bite of her cereal and breakfast continued, hunting free from then on.

* * *

Halfway across the country, another family was waking up on a rather different note.

"Hm... Okay, clavicle: Lateral third, upper surface, under surface, coracoid-," Jude said, listing each part as he kissed each he'd listed on Anna's collarbone.

"Jude, that tickles!" she giggled, interrupting.

"What can I say? We have a quiz in our intro to osteology class today. Are you really going to prevent a guy from studying?" Jude asked innocently.

Anna narrowed her eyes at him, shaking her head, "What am I going to do with you, Jude Winchester?"

"I don't know. You're kind of stuck with me for the rest of your life now," Jude said, taking her hand in his. Anna laughed, smiling at the sound of that. He then proceeded to open her hand up, turning it over so that her palm was facing downwards.

"Digits secondus medias, digitis medias... sparkly ringamus," Jude began, as he named the bones of the hands, before hesitating, and kissing Anna's hand.

"That is not the bone of a hand!" she teased.

"Yeah it is. Right here," he said, toying with the ring on her finger, beaming up at her. As cheesy as she felt, Anna couldn't help but allow this man to melt her heart with his words this morning.

"Ughh, you're going to make it impossible to leave this bed this morning, aren't you?" Anna groaned.

"Yeah, pretty much," Jude replied.

"Hey, thinking of it this way. We only have intro to osteology today and then we're going out tonight so... we go to class and rock this quiz, and then we get drunk later tonight! It's a win-win situation," Anna proposed.

Jude nodded, "You run a hard bargain."

"Speaking of going out tonight. I thought we'd invite John and Renee to go with us," Anna said, propping herself up on her forearms. Jude paused, shooting her a look. "What?"

"What're you doing?" Jude asked, suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" Anna asked, shrugging innocently.

"John and Renee. You know they're not together," Jude said.

"I know! But they're both here, and I thought it'd be a nice thing for all of us to do together. John's your brother and my future brother-in-law and well, Renee's a family friend! And besides, I like her," Anna defended, no matter how guilty she knew she was.

Jude raised an eyebrow before sighing, "I mean, go ahead. It can't hurt, right?"

"Not at all," Anna replied, trying to hide her triumphant grin.

"You're devious, you," Jude teased.

"That's why you're marrying me," she teased with a chuckle, leaning in and pecking him on the lips once before sauntering over to the bathroom connected to their bedroom and shutting the door behind her. Jude lay back against his pillows, both hands under his head as he watched her go. He chuckled to himself as he heard the shower water running and his girlfriend - correction, fiance - start to hum.

_Damn, I'm lucky,_ he thought to himself.

* * *

"So what're you doing this weekend?" Haley asked curiously, as she closed the door to her locker. She hugged her math text book, along with the composition notebook she had already been holding, to her chest as she and Victoria walked down the hall toward their first period class together.

"Actually, Mom and Dad are taking Flynn and I on a," Victoria said, pausing to check to see if anyone was listening in on their conversation. "Hunt."

"What?" Haley asked, her eyes widening.

"Yeah, something came up and they don't think it's a big deal, but they think it's something to check out anyways. Said we could use a little practice in the field," Victoria replied, fighting her urge to gloat. She couldn't help it but be so excited.

"No fair! I want to go," Haley said.

"And piss off Uncle Sammy? I don't think so. You can ask him. He's your dad!" Victoria replied.

Haley pouted, "Yeah... there's no way he'd let me go. Maybe if I did a couple more hours at the center... I just get busy. Or sleep in." She chuckled at her afterthought, Victoria laughing with her.

"Yeah, you love your sleep alright," Victoria added. She glanced down at the composition notebook that her cousin was holding. "So how is my mother?"

Haley looked down at the book then back to Victoria, "Great. I'm just at the part where your Uncle Dean tells your mom that that he sold his soul to a crossroads demon to save my dad. You're a genius for suggesting reading over it again."

"Why, thank you," Victoria bragged, jokingly flipping her hair to the side.

"Your parents loved each other but had some crazy fights... they must've had really great sex!" Haley said, flipping through the pages in wonder.

"Ew! Gross. I mean, it's bad enough that we get to see all the allusions to it, but reading about it? Now, I just don't need to know all of that stuff," Victoria groaned.

"Yeah, it is pretty weird, but if we're being honest, if they weren't your parents, it would be totally hot," Haley replied.

"Hey, Haley," a guy said as he walked by, giving her the nod.

"Hey," she smiled, flirtatiously tucking a piece of hair behind her ear as she and Victoria continued to walk.

"Speaking of hot," Victoria started.

"What?" she asked.

"Are you and he still... whatever you two were doing?" Victoria asked.

"Evan? Oh, NO. No, no, no, no, no! That was purely a summer fun thing," Haley answered.

"Hey, I thought we had decided to use your powers for good, not evil," Victoria joked.

"Evil?!" Haley exclaimed, laughing.

"Yeah, I know how this all works, Haley. You flirt with a boy, you have him in the wrapped around your finger with a flip of the hair, a mysterious smile, and those puppy dog blue eyes of yours, you hook up with him, and then boom! You're over it and he's forever in love," Victoria said, purposefully over dramatizing it for comedic effect.

Haley laughed, "That is not how that goes!"

"It kind of is," Victoria said.

"What kind of is?" Flynn asked, interrupting their conversation.

"Haley and boys. She has them wrapped around her finger since-," Victoria started.

"The word 'hello'. Of course that's how that is!" Flynn interjected.

"Well, it never makes them stay," Haley mumbled.

Flynn and Victoria exchanged glances, both knowing what she was referring to. Owen. They had broken up after Freshmen year before getting back together at the beginning of sophomore year and had broken up again, eight months later. Haley was devastated, having her first real heartbreak, and had manifested her pain into making him jealous. And she had succeeded making him jealous with several guys... and counting...

"So... change of subject, I found five dollars this morning," Flynn started, shrugging carelessly.

"Awesome! Dude!" Victoria exclaimed.

"Yeah, I thought we could go to that new place that used to be The Falcon but then was that diner and then got bought by the other diner," Flynn said.

"But then became the-," she continued.

"Pancake place," Flynn added.

"But then became that other diner and is now the," Victoria began.

"Indian place," Flynn completed. Before Haley could say anything else, he asked, "Hales, you want to come?"

"Yeah, sure," she shrugged.

"You think Mom and Dad will want anything?" Victoria asked.

"Nah. Dad hates that stuff, remember? Last time he said he wanted to burn the house down since it smelled like curry," Flynn laughed.

"True..." Victoria nodded.

"You two are so twins," Haley laughed, shaking her head. She then walked into the classroom. Flynn and Victoria followed her in, exchanging glances and just shrugging.

* * *

Jackson Winchester scanned the halls of high school. It was his third official week of high school and he could barely believe he was here. He had watched his brother, sister, and all of his cousins go through it, making it out to be some glamorous place for overachievers which scared the hell out of him. Now, it didn't seem too scary after all. After making the JV football team his freshmen year and gliding through classes thanks to his parents' insistence on working hard in the past, the beginning of school had been kind of a breeze.

Jackson made his way to the lunch room, first as always, sitting down at the their usual table. He had finally made his way to the legendary Winchester table. It was the table that Jude, would sit with with all of his friends, which was soon taken over by John, Cole, and the rest of the gang.

Just then, a brown paper bag plopped down onto the table spot next to him and he looked up to see a tall, thin, girl with long blonde hair and a thick line of black eyeliner under her bright blue eyes.

"Hey, Iz," Jackson said, taking a bite from his sandwich.

"Hey," she said, sitting down and next to him and beginning to open her lunch bag.

"What? No spots at the Goth table today?" Jackson teased, glancing over at her.

"Shut up," Iz groaned, playfully rolling her eyes and pushing him gently. "I could say the same thing about you, Freshmen."

"I'm a Winchester. It's my birth right," Jackson shrugged.

"You are the only Freshmen that sits here..." Iz trailed off, reluctantly.

"Yes, I am," Jackson bragged, triumphantly.

"Don't forget that I was the only Freshmen that sat here last year, Mr. Hot Stuff," Iz reminded.

"Oh, thanks," Jackson joked, referring to her calling him "Mr. Hot Stuff." Iz just rolled her eyes, shoving him playfully again. "Yeah, you're going to have to stop doing that."

"Then you're going to have to stop making comments like that," Iz shot back jokingly. The two shared a playfully gaze, letting each other know that they were joking, before looking away.

"Hey, no Freshmen at this table," Haley teased, as she and Victoria approached the table. Iz snorted with laughter as Jackson shot her a look.

"I'm a Winchester!" he protested.

"I know. I was just messing with you, squirt," Haley said, ruffling his hair up.

"Hey!" Jackson said, swatting her hand away and attempting to salvage his hair.

"Guys, stop picking on Jackson," Flynn said, coming over to the table as well.

"We were not," Victoria defended.

"Don't worry. That was me my Freshmen year. They'll grow out of it, and knowing Uncle Sammy, you'll be a five feet taller than all of us in a few years, anyways," Flynn said, sitting down next to Jackson.

"I'm not sure how I didn't inherit the tall gene. Mom's tall, Dad's tall... and I'm-," Haley started.

"A munchkin," Jackson interjected.

"Petite," Haley corrected.

"Whatever you say," Jackson shrugged. With that, Haley balled up a napkin before throwing it at her younger brother's head. "Hey! It's not nice to litter." He picked up the napkin from off the ground and placed it back onto the table.

"I completely understand that. Renee inherited the golden child gene and somehow that one missed me," Iz said.

"Well, who wants to be the gold child anyways? I'm the black sheep," Flynn shrugged.

"You are not!" Victoria protested.

"Am too. Jude, John, and you are all into... what our family does... I... like to take photographs. I don't mind it," Flynn shrugged.

Victoria shook her head, "You still like it though."

"Yeahhh, but not like you guys," Flynn said.

"Ugh, Uncle Dean and Aunt Meredith are taking Flynn and Victoria out on a hunt," Haley told Eric.

"What?! How come our parents never-," Jackson said.

"That's exactly what I said!" Haley exclaimed.

"You guys are crazy. I mean, as cool as it is, you guys, I can't even imagine having to do that," Iz said. "I mean, why would you want to?"

"Family business," Flynn and Victoria answered, simultaneously.

"Well, you guys should come to the center next week. I think we'll go after school or something," Victoria suggested.

"Yeah, maybe we will," Haley said, shooting her brother a mischievous look.

* * *

"Did you call John to let him know? I hope he doesn't mind that we're late," Anna said, holding her clutch purse to her side as she and Jude walked down the sidewalk of the downtown Philadelphia area where they were going out to a bar.

"Yeah, he said it was fine. He's there now but he said Renee was on her way, as well," Jude replied.

"Oh okay, good," Anna said.

"Don't worry. You and I both know that my brother doesn't care whether or not we're late," Jude said back. The two walked into the bar, the sounds of smooth jazz music hitting their ears as they made their way to a man at the bar.

"Hey, man," Jude said, tapping him on the shoulder.

"Hey, you guys are here!" John smiled, seeing the two.

"Who is... this?" Anna asked, glancing over at the girl sitting next to John. She tried to hide her disappointment. How was Renee going to feel being the fifth wheel here?

"Oh, right. This is Theresa, she's a uh, friend from school," John introduced. "Theresa, this is my brother, Jude, and his fiance, Anna.

"It's nice to meet you," she smiled, politely, shaking both of their hands.

Anna took the girl in, something dawning on her. This girl's demeanor and even the way she looked was very Renee like. She had shoulder length, blonde hair and very similar body type as well.

"Hey, sorry, we're late," They heard someone say.

Anna and Jude both turned around to see Renee walking in towards them, with a tall, dark, and handsome guy with her - tall, dark, and handsome, just like John.

"What can I get you?" the bartender asked, seeing the three couples congregate.

John and Renee locked eyes, both of them at loss for words.

Anna and Jude exchanged glances.

The three couples stood in awkward silence, one after the other, beginning to say something, but nothing coming out.

"I'm going to need a shot of the strongest thing you've got," Anna said, breaking the awkward silence.

They were in for a long night.


	5. I've Been Loving You Too Long

**Author's Note:** So this is a REALLY couple-y chapter. Much more action to come with the twins on their hunts! i'm so excited to write those and to play with their characters. I know it's been a week-ish but this is me getting back to writing! I will have time in two weeks to finally, FINALLY write!  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters nor this song. This song is "I've Been Loving You Too Long" by Otis Redding. Enjoy!

* * *

Anna's face crinkled as she could taste the alcohol on her tongue after throwing another shot back.

"Night didn't turn out how you planned it, huh?" Jude asked, coming up behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist.

"Don't say it," Anna started.

"What?" Jude asked.

"I told you so," she answered, with a sigh.

"I wasn't going to. Hey, think about how weird it is for them," Jude said.

Anna nodded, "Yeah, I really can't imagine. Is it just me or-."

"Are their dates dopplegangers of each other? Yeah," Jude answered, with a nod, finishing his glass of whiskey.

"Oh yeah! Who's good? This guy!" John exclaimed, high fiving his date. Renee rolled her eyes, muttering to herself. "Oh come on! Who's up for another game?"

"We're really not," Renee shrugged.

"Babe, why don't we take this somewhere else?" Justin, Renee's date asked. John cringed at the fact that Renee's date had called her 'babe.' He could feel Rachel, his date, coming towards him. He licked his lips, taking a step forward as Justin took Renee's hand.

"Wait, come on! Don't be a sore loser, Walsh," she managed to stammer out – his last attempt to get her to stay. There was no way in hell he'd let that guy take her to "somewhere else," whatever the hell that meant. Who knows what or where that could be and John would not let that happen? He'd get too antsy.

"You're such a child!" Renee hissed, her blood boiling. She could kill John right now! If he wanted a no-strings-attached thing, then he got it, but now that they were back at school, she wouldn't let him do that to her. She would not be the one looking stupid by the end of all of this. She looked up at Justin, a soft, sweet, flirtatious look in her eyes that she knew worked every time and said, "Hey, let's go dance." Her lips curled into a devious smile and he smirked.

"Right this way," Justin replied, leaving John gaping.

"You wanna play another round?" Rachel asked, sweetly. He watched as she bent over the pool table seductively and set up the game. And although John would normally look, he found himself only thinking on Renee. He sighed.

"_Snap out of it, Winchester. You said no strings attached this summer. It's not like it worked out the first time and there's no way you're going to look the idiot at the end of all of this,"_ he thought to himself. "Uh, yeah, sure." Hopefully the game would take his mind off of it.

* * *

Michaela jumped at the sounds of taxis screeching to a halt and several cars honking their horns.

"Sorry!" she managed to squeal as she ran the last few feet of the crosswalk. She hadn't even realized that the pedestrian sign had changed from "walk" to "don't walk."

"Watch out there. I leave you alone in the city for two days and you're almost hit by cars!" Cole teased, as Michaela greeted him on the sidewalk.

"I was zoning out, okay?" she replied.

He chuckled, "I was just teasing you."

"Uh huh," she managed to giggled, staring up into those sky blue eyes of his. Michaela would never be one to admit it, but boy did she have a crush on this guy. She knew she didn't actually know him that well, but she was so dang attracted to him! That and the fact that he was sweet… these Winchester boys… someone knew how to raise them right.

"Where are we heading tonight?" Cole asked.

"Do I have to plan all of our," Michaela started, but stopped herself before saying 'date.' "outings every time?"

"Well, you're the one that went to boarding school in Connecticut and went into the city every weekend," Cole answered, playfully.

"This is true. And it wasn't _every_weekend!" she corrected, jokingly.

"Yeah, whatever. I lived in a small town my whole life. It's a lot different here. Harder…" Cole trailed off.

"How has school been for you, anyways?" Michaela asked. "School, New York City, everything really."

"It's a big change. New York City is no Sioux Falls but it's been an easier adjustment. NYU's been great, you know? You've been there," Cole joked. Michaela laughed in reply. "But I've learned to navigate here, use public transportation, gotten used to rude people – not to mention the ones that pee in the subway station!"

Michaela laughed, "Yeah, they're gross but you learn to ignore them."

"Not to toot my own horn, but I feel like I was meant for the city life," Cole joked.

"Okay, Mr. Cocky. Calm down," she teased.

Cole laughed, "Ok, so where to?"

"I thought we could go to the Blue Note tonight," Michaela replied.

"But we don't have tickets. And besides, isn't it expensive?" Cole asked.

Michaela smirked, "I know a trick."

The two walked down all the way down Mercer Street before hitting West 3rd Street, right to the Blue Note.

"Shh, come on!" Michaela encouraged, mischievously.

"Woah. This isn't illegal, is it?" Cole asked.

Michaela laughed, mumbling to herself, "Chicken."

"What?!" Cole asked.

"You're chicken," she replied.

"That's not very nice," he said, pretend-hurt.

"Oh, boo-hoo," she said sarcastically, and he laughed. "Please, I used to do it in boarding school all the time. Trust me. It won't be just us up here. Ready?" Michaela had her foot on the first step of the fire escape, looking back at Cole.

"Ready," he answered. He followed her up the fire escape. _"This is a hell of a lot easier than sneaking up on the rooftop in high school."_ Cole paused, an enormous wave of déjà vu hitting him. His first real love. His first real heartbreak.

Cole pushed the thoughts from his mind. That was the last thing he wanted to think about. He was in college. New place. New start. He wouldn't be one of those guys that let his baggage hold him back. Although he filled his mind with other thoughts, Cole climbed the fire escape slowly and pensively until they reached the top. The sound of saxophones and string instruments filled the night air as climbed up on top of the review.

No surprise to Michaela, there were a couple of other people joining them as well.

"Here we are!" Michaela said.

"It's nice," Cole smiled softly, taking it in. "Damn…"

"The music's great. Once, we came up here for New Year's Eve and Chris Botti was playing. He's a freaking genius. God, I love New York in the winter. It's freezing but beautiful," Michaela gushed.

"I bet," Cole said.

"And the bonus? You get a great view of New York City," Michaela said, leading him over to the balcony. Cole followed her, peering at the city skyline.

She was right.

It was one hell of a view.

* * *

John took a sip of his beer, bought with a fake ID of course, and set it down on the pool table's edge, before taking his last shot at the game.

"Yes, I win!" Rachel squealed.

"You must be too good for me," John shrugged. She giggled, wrapping her arms around his neck. He had let her win, of course. It was the oldest trick in the book. He was surprised that girls still fell for it. But hey! If it ain't broke, don't fix it. That was his motto.

Over Rachel's head, he could see Renee slow dancing to the smoky jazz band with that Justin guy. He swallowed hard, before returning his attention back to Rachel.

"This is pretty," he said, playing with the necklace she was wearing.

"Thanks. I got it last weekend," she smiled. John glanced up just long enough to see that Renee was watching them, so he softly played with a lock of the Rachel's hair, looking back at her. He smirked down at her.

Renee took a deep breath, trying not to run over there and slap her in the face and then punch his.

_"He's not yours, Renee. Don't be that crazy girl,"_she thought to herself. The song ended and Justin leaned down toward her. She knew what he wanted. She glanced over at John and saw he was watching. Now they were giggling and he was playing with her hair.

She leaned up just enough to make it look like a kiss before she pulled away to look at the band.

"Alright, this next one goes out to all you lovers out there," the man said, his raw vocals starting out the song.

"_I've been loving you too long to stop now_

_You are tired and you want to be free_

_My love is growing stronger, as you become a habit to me_

_Ohh, I've been loving you too long_

_I don't wanna stop now…"_

"I love this song," Anna said, a smile curling on her lips.

"Dance with me," Jude replied.

"My pleasure," she said back, as he led her onto the dance floor.

Over by the pool table, John and Rachel were still flirting. He saw Renee and Justin… was that a kiss? His whole body tensed up.

"Everything okay?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah, fine," John shrugged. He unclenched his body, before asking, "Do you want to dance?"

"Yeah," Rachel replied, almost surprised.

"Cool," John said.

Jude and Anna, Renee and Justin, and John and Rachel were now on the dance floor, dancing to the romantic lyrics of Otis Redding.

Renee saw John and Rachel dancing and just rolled her eyes. As the singer reached up for the high note, she really started to listen to the lyrics.

"_With you my life has been so wonderful_

_I can't stop now_

_You are tired and your love is growing cold_

_My love is growing stronger as our affair, affair grows old_

_I've been loving you oh, too long_

_I don't want to stop now, ohh, ohh, ohh_

_I've been loving you a little too long_

_I don't wanna stop now, ohh, ohh, ohh_

_And don't make me stop now_

_Oh baby_

_I'm down on my knees_

_Please, don't make me stop now…"_

Paralyzed in fear, she let Justin do all the work, leading her in the slow dance. She knew she wasn't thinking about anyone else but John as she let the lyrics resonated with her. Damn it. She was so fucked. She should've never let any of that stuff happen during the summer. Then maybe she wouldn't be feeling this way…

She knew that was a lie.

She'd always feel this way.

"So how about we go back to my place after this," Rachel asked, seductively.

"I-, what?" John asked, losing his train of thought.

"I said, how about we go back to my place after this?" she repeated herself.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah," he nodded, hesitantly.

"You don't seem so sure," she replied.

"No, I am," John said.

He licked his lips, looking over Rachel's head at Renee. She didn't seem so wrapped in Justin anymore but more introspective – it was that face she got when she was thinking about something that me her worry. Damn it. He knew her damn faces and everything. Why did he have to fall for his best friend all those years ago?

More like why did he have to end it?

"Good," she smirked, before leaning up and kissing him, slowly and seductively. He pulled away for a second and noticed Renee getting all too cozy with this Justin guy. He leaned back down for another kiss.

Renee saw what was happening with John and Rachel and her heart stopped. She cursed herself for still having feelings for him; for seeing him over the summer. She had kept things casual because she didn't want to look dumb. All this time, her fear of looking dumb, just made it even worse and cause much more heartbreak. He was over her. She wasn't over him. End of story.

"I've got to go," she said, suddenly, surprising herself and wrenching herself from Justin's arms.

"Wait, what's wrong?" Justin asked, surprised.

"I've just got to go. I'm sorry," she said, trying to fight the tears in her eyes. Justin followed after her as she rushed through the crowd, heading for the exit.

John pulled away from Rachel's kiss, opening his eyes. He scanned the crowd for Renee and she was gone. She really let him take her to "somewhere else." Damn it.

He shook his head out of disbelief. She would really do that to him… after everything that had happened this summer. She was over it. He wasn't. He felt like an idiot. He closes his eyes for one minute and she's off. Well, he was going to make this a lot easier then.

He looked down at Rachel, "How about we get out of here now then?"

"That sounds perfect," she replied.  
_  
"I love you, I love you, I love you with all my heart_

_And I can't stop now_

_Please, please, please don't make me stop now_

_Talkin' 'bout heart and soul_

_That I love you_

_I love you."_

"I love you, Anna Peters," Jude said.

"I love you too," she said back.

"God, you're… you look beautiful tonight," Jude said.

"Jude," she blushed, looking away.

"What? Can't your fiancé give you a compliment?" he asked.

She chuckled, "You love it, don't you?"

"What?" he asked.

"Saying, 'fiancé'," she answered.

"Yeah," Jude replied. "I thought you might say no, okay? And since you didn't, well, now I can say it all I want."

"You really thought I'd say no?" Anna asked, skeptically.

Jude shook his head, "No. I mean… it was an option, but I doubt you would've."

"Hey, where's John and Renee and… their dopplegangers?" Anna asked.

"Uh uh. Not now. Now can't be about them," Jude replied.

Anna nodded, "You're right." She sighed, before jokingly over dramatizing, "Kiss me, fiancé."

Jude laughed, "You're such a goofball and watch way too many chick flicks."

"Yeah, but they're old chick flicks like Gone With the Wind and Breakfast at Tiffany's which are some quality movies so at least I have good taste," Anna pointed out.

"You have good taste in men too, might I add," Jude teased.

"Shut up," Anna said, rolling her eyes playfully. Jude leaned down before kissing her. The two pulled away, share a small secretive laugh.

All his life, Jude had wanted the great love that his parents had and now, he really felt like he was going to have it.

* * *

"You'd think after taking out our first two sons to fight demons, it'd get easier with the last two," Meredith said, as she and her husband got into bed.

"Yeah... but if you think about it, these two have already been out hunting before," Dean said back.

"Yeah, but not in a while. I don't know. It's an odd feeling," she sighed.

Dean nodded, "I know, baby."

Meredith continued to read her book until she felt a weird vibe. She looked up from her book to see Dean staring at her, a smirk on his face.

"What?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm just thinking about stuff... you know, we've pretty good, huh?" Dean asked.

"Well," Meredith corrected.

"What?" Dean asked.

"It's 'well.' We've done pretty well," she answered.

"Alright, Mrs. Winchester. What're you going to do about my bad grammar? Punish me?" Dean smirked.

"Dean," she groaned.

"What?" he asked innocently.

"You're... a perv," she said.

"That's all you can come up with?" he challenged. Meredith shot him a look before returning to her book. "All I'm saying is that I think we've done pretty well considering we're fifty two and we're still having sex."

"So that's what you want? Should've known..." Meredith sighed.

"Is that so bad?" he asked, his fingers running down her sides.

"No," she giggled, trying to push him off of her.

"Look, Victoria and Flynn are going to do... well on this hunt, okay?" Dean asked.

"I know," she answered.

"Good. Now calm down woman! I'm trying to get laid, here," Dean said.

She laughed in response, rolling her eyes, "Hah! Please. Like that's going to happen."

"You know it is, Mer. I know how to get you going," Dean smirked, beginning to kiss her neck. She recognized that look on his face, shaking his head. With that grin and the way he still knew where and how she liked to be kissed, she knew she'd cave.


	6. We've Got Work to Do

Author's Note: This one is a little short by Saturday, I will finally, finally, FINALLY have time to really write and I CANNOT wait. Hope you enjoy this chapter. Nothing much happens but it's a nice "moments" chapter.

* * *

"Here," Meredith said, handing her husband a cooler filled with lunch food to eat on the long drive ahead. "And don't forget-."

"My favorite knife!" Dean exclaimed as she handed him that as well. "Thanks, babe. You're the best."

"I was tempted to take it with me instead. I almost did… you're not the only one that likes that one," Meredith replied.

Dean smirked, "I love it when my girl talks about knives like that."

"Okay, okay, we get it. You two are in love with each other. No need to traumatize your children by making out all the time," Victoria teased.

"She is so your daughter," Meredith said to Dean causing him to laugh and Victoria to snort.

"Mm, and she got your sass. Alright, I'll see you on Sunday, babe. Call me if you run into any trouble," Dean said, kissing Meredith gently.

"Mom, are you sure we're going to need all of this stuff?" Flynn asked, heaving a duffle bag over his shoulder before hauling it into the trunk of the 1963 Mercury Comet.

"We never know what we might run into!" Meredith defended.

"You over pack, woman," Dean teased.

"I know!" Meredith said. He smiled, before kissing her once more and saying goodbye.

"You take care of your mom, alright?" Dean asked Flynn.

"Of course, Dad," Flynn smiled proudly.

"Be safe, babe," Meredith said. Dean nodded, before giving Flynn a goodbye hug and then getting into the Impala where Victoria had already been sitting in the passenger seat, impatiently awaiting their departure.

"Finally! You and Mom stopped making out," Victoria joked.

"Yeah, so what?" Dean asked, back.

She laughed, "You know, as much as we hate seeing it, we really love that you and Mom are still so in love with each other. I feel like a lot of my friends parents aren't like that anymore. You two… obviously… still have the spark."

Dean shrugged, "Well, your Mom and I went through a lot together."

Victoria nodded, "Yeah you two have. Jesus Christ, I never knew!"

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"Oh…" Victoria trailed off, knowing she had said too much.

"What do you know that I don't?" Dean asked, suspiciously.

Victoria took a long pause before she knew she could no longer withhold information from her father, "Haley and I were searching the attic and kind of found Mom's old diaries," she confessed all in one breath.

"What?!" Dean exclaimed, hitting the steering wheel.

"I mean, she was fine with it!" Victoria defended.

"She never let me read those!" Dean pouted.

At that comment, Victoria began to laugh, "That's what that was about?"

"What?" Dean whined.

"You getting all pouty? Sorry, Dad, but that's just funny," Victoria continued to laugh.

"It's not funny! I have worked years to try and get her to let me read those," Dean groaned.

Victoria shook her head, "It's different. I mean, the whole thing is basically a love letter to you. Of course she doesn't want you to read them."

"Why not?" Dean asked.

"Because! It's embarrassing," Victoria reasoned.

He sighed before looking over at her, "Since when did you get so smart?"

"I don't know. It's a gift!" she jokingly gloated. He let out a hearty laugh in response to her comment. "So… what exactly do we think this thing is? This case. I put together a file from all the articles I could find." She took out the file from her bag, showing it to her dad.

"Good, kid," Dean nodded in approval, upon seeing the file. "Well, we're just going to have to see when we get to Wisconsin. It could be a number of things: angry spirit, shapeshifter posing as dead loved ones, witches, anything really."

"Gotcha. So how long till Wisconsin?" she asked.

Dean snorted, "You ask a lot of questions."

"Yeah, so?" Victoria asked back.

Dean laughed, "We got a while. But don't worry. Your old man still knows every back road and how to speed without getting caught."

"Cool," Victoria smiled, wickedly.

Dean looked around before saying, "Don't tell your mom, but I'll teach you all of them."

"Awesome!" she exclaimed.

"And in the meantime," Dean said, before putting in a cassette tape into the car. The sounds of "Whole Lotta Love" by Led Zeppelin came blaring from the speakers. "Aww yeahhh." Victoria smiled to herself. This was going to be one hell of a road trip.

* * *

"So I made up the case file. I found every article recent and past cases in the town like it. There's been some pretty weird stuff, Mom. What do you think it is?" Flynn asked his mom.

"We can't be too sure until we get there. It could be a number of things: demons, witches with some sacrifice needed to be filled, you name it," she replied. She then began to laugh. "Sorry, I-, it's weird taking the two of you out hunting. With John and Jude it was because they had to and with you and Victoria-."

"It's the family business," Flynn completed.

Meredith looked over at him, compassion in her eyes, "Yeah." She took a long paused before looking over and asking, "You want to be doing this, right? We don't force you to?"

Flynn shrugged, "Yeah, it's cool, you know? Is it what I want to do for the rest of my life like Dad and Uncle Sam did for most of theirs? No. But now… yeah. My brothers did it, Vi's into it, and it's kind of like being a superhero, you know? It's like, if there's all this evil out there and we know about it, we're just as evil if we don't stop it, right?"

"Yeah," Meredith nodded, a smile creeping on her face. Since when had her son grown up so quickly and learned to speak so intelligently like this? She didn't really know, but she couldn't say that she hated it.

"It's like a hobby," Flynn chuckled.

Meredith laughed, "Demon hunting as a hobby… Most kids play chess or soccer or paint… our family, we kill evil spirits and demons. I-, I can't help but find the humor in that."

"Well, I still do that stuff too! You know, soccer and football and photography," Flynn added.

Meredith nodded, "Yeah, you do. It's all about balance, it seems. I had too much of a normal life with too much knowledge of the hunter's life and your father had too much hunting and not enough normal."

"And you both turned out fine! Sort of," Flynn teased.

"Hey!" Meredith protested.

"I'm just kidding, Mom. Dad on the other hand… kidding, again," Flynn said.

Meredith laughed, "But the two of you… you have normal and this. It's a good balance."

"What's that thing Dad said that Grandpa John used to say?" Flynn asked.

"The family that slays together stays together," Meredith answered.

"Exactly! And we're doing it as a fully functional family. No harm done, right?" Flynn asked.

"Right," Meredith answered, still unsure about her answer. Was there really no harm done? "I remember when Jude was in high school and was sure that this was what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. And now look at him. He's going to be a doctor soon… it's funny how things work out."

"Yeah," Flynn nodded.

"I think he got a little hooked on it. Which you are not allowed to do!" Meredith chuckled.

"Noted," Flynn chuckled. "Alright, we've got a ways to Oklahoma. How about a good road mix?"

"I thought you might ask. I brought the iPod adapter. Did you make a playlist?" Meredith asked her son.

"Of course!" Flynn exclaimed, enthusiastically. He pulled his iPod out of his book bag that he had put in the front seat with him before plugging it into the iPod tape adapter hooked up to his mother's car. "Just a second… Viola!"

The sounds of eclectic, American band began to ring out through the speakers and Meredith smiled, "Listening to your music always makes me feel so old, but I like that you guys keep me updated with it."

"Mom, you're not that old!" Flynn exclaimed. "Think about Dad. He's probably listening to Led Zeppelin right now."

"Oh, he is – there's no doubt about that," Meredith chuckled.

"What an old geezer!" he joked.

"For Victoria's sake, I hope he doesn't smother her with over protectiveness," Meredith started.

"Dad wouldn't really-," Flynn began to protest but stopped himself. "Nahh you're right. He's going to be so overprotective, she probably won't even handle a gun."

"Yeahhh," Meredith sighed.

* * *

Victoria and Dean were in middle of nowhere Iowa before stopping at a roadhouse for a cup of coffee, food, and a beer for Dean. Besides, he wanted to show here what authentic road life was like, maybe even as a cautionary tale.

Dean had gotten up to go to the bathroom before they were about to head out. Victoria sat their table, munching on the remaining bowl of peanuts that had been placed on their table when they had sat down. She checked her phone, seeing that she had a text message from Haley and another one from Flynn.

"Meredith Summers?" she heard a voice ask, stunning her.

"What?" Victoria asked, whipping her head around quickly.

"Oh, nothin'. I coulda sworn… never mind," the man shook his head. He had greying hair, a full beard, and wore a plaid shirt with jeans. "Sorry for botherin' ya, ma'am,"

"No, no! It's-, Meredith Summers is my mother," Victoria said, stopping him from turning around.

"Well, I'll be damned," he gasped, taking one good look at her. "You look just like her."

"You knew my mom?" Victoria asked, curiously, taking a step toward the man.

"Of course I did. I knew her back in her college days… then a little while later. I was a frequent at the Harvelle Roadhouse. She and that boyfriend of hers were quite a team," he answered.

Harvelle Roadhouse… it sounded so familiar… Where had she heard that before? She chuckled at the fact that even he knew of the legacy love of her mom and dad.

"I'm Victoria Winchester," Victoria said, extending a hand out to the man. He took it, gladly, before shaking it.

"Winchester. Well, I'll be damned! So she married the Winchester boy after all, huh?" he smiled.

"Yeah," Victoria started, but before she could say anything else, the voice of her father interrupted her.

"Someone bothering you?" he asked, standing behind Carl Miller.

"Oh, Dad-," Victoria started. Carl turned around just in time for Dean to stop in his tracks.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean exclaimed, a wide grin spreading across his face. "Miller! What the hell are you doing here?"

"Well, after a while, I settled down here in Iowa. Tried out the white picket fence life… still come to places like this when I'm nostalgic for the old days. What're you doing here, Winchester, especially bringing this daughter of yours?" Carl asked.

"We're working a case, actually," Dean said.

Carl nodded, "I heard things were starting up again."

"Wh-, they're not. They're not actually, sweetie. Don't worry about-," Dean began to say to Victoria.

"Don't worry about it, Dad," Victoria shook her head.

Dean swallowed, "It's good seeing you. How have you been? Never took you to be rockin' the white picket fence."

"You too. So Meredith Summers, huh? How's that pretty, little wife of yours?" Carl asked.

"She's great. She has our other son right now in Oklahoma working a case," Dean replied.

"Two kids? You did good, Winchester," Carl complimented.

"Four, actually," Dean said. And with the look on her father's face, Victoria could tell that her father was more than happy to brag about their family.

"Wow. Well, would you look at that," Carl marveled.

"What about you?" Dean asked.

"A son," Carl answered.

"Ah well, it was good catching up with you. We better get going though. Evil never waits," Dean said. Victoria laughed at her father's use of the cheesy catch phrase.

"Yeah, I'll leave you too it. Good to see you, Winchester," Carl said back.

"You too," Dean replied.

"And it was nice meeting you, too Victoria. You're the spitting image of your mother," Carl said.

"Nice meeting you too," Victoria said back. She had forgotten that her mother had been a part of this life. With Dad, it was obvious – the whole life of the road, wandering hunter, different town every night thing – but with Mom, it was like she had this whole hidden past that none of them knew about.

"Take care," Dean said.

"You too, Winchester," Carl said back, before they left.

As Dean and Victoria made their way towards the Impala, Victoria burst into a fit of laughter.

"What? What's so funny?" Dean asked, shooting his daughter a perplexed look.

"We better get to Wisconsin soon. Evil never sleeps," Victoria teased.

"Ahhh, leave me alone! I'm old," Dean said, attempting to swat her comment away.

"Nope, no, it's too funny, Dad," Victoria laughed.

"Here, kid. You've got an hour," Dean said, tossing the keys to Victoria. Victoria caught them perfectly, her eyes widening.

"You mean it?" she asked.

"Yeah, you're getting the full hunting experience this way," Dean shrugged. "Besides, I told you I'd teach you all the back roads and how to get away with speeding on them. Gotta stay true to my word, don't I?"

"I guess so," Victoria shrugged, playing it off like it was no big deal, although both of them knew that it really was.

"Come on, kid. We've got work to do," Dean said, smiling at his daughter.


	7. The Hunt Pt 1

**Ridgeway, Wisconsin**

Victoria set her things down with a thud before sprawling herself out on the motel bed.

"I can't believe I got to drive the Impala," she said dreamily, before taking in a deep breath and letting out a big exhale.

"I can't believe I let you…" Dean trailed off.

Victoria sat up, narrowing her eyes at her father, "Hey, I wasn't that bad!"

"No, you weren't," Dean admitted. "but the fact that I let anyone but myself drive that car…. Sammy barely drove it. Your mother… that's a different story."

"You never let Mom drive the Impala?" Victoria asked, a wicked grin appearing on her face.

"Rarely," Dean sighed.

Victoria lay back on her bed, smiling, "I feel special now."

Dean snorted with laughter, "You're too much, you know that?"

"I get that from you," she teased back.

Dean chuckled to himself before looking at the newspaper article in the folder he had for the case they we were working on. He glanced it over one more time before saying, "It looks like the Rutherfords were the last family to lose someone. How about we pay them a visit and then ask around town?"

"Sounds good to me. What're we posing as today? Cops? FBI agents?" Victoria asked eagerly, sitting up.

"You are way too young to pass for either of those and in these small towns, the best thing to do is do the whole God and Jesus thing," Dean said.

Victoria raised an eyebrow, "Seriously?"

"What?" Dean asked, defensively.

She laughed, "I'm sorry, Dad. I just have a hard time seeing you as any kind of religious man. I mean, the closest we get to religious is Christmas… celebrated in the most secular way possible."

Dean scoffed, "Yeah, well, we have personal experience with all of that bullshit. No way am I buying into that." He then straightened up. "But just you watch. Your dad's been an expert, fool-proof liar for years. Now go put on your best church clothes."

"How do you know it'll work?" she asked.

"It's a small, bible town. It'll work. Trust me," Dean answered.

Victoria smirked, getting off of the bed and reaching for her duffel bag on the floor. She pulled it onto the bed and climbed back on it, unzipping her suitcase, "You and Mom are bad influences on us."

"Eh, it teaches character, kid," Dean shrugged, jokingly.

Victoria laughed, rolling her eyes playfully. She took out her light blue button down, black skirt, and navy cardigan from her bag before heading to the bathroom to change.

Dean quickly changed into his all black priest uniform. Man, he hadn't done this in a while. He sat back down on the chair at the little table in their motel room, thinking it all over. He was about to take his daughter – his little girl – out on a hunt. He was scared shitless. What if something happened to her? And if something did, it would be his fault. He'd never forgive himself. He hoped it was shapeshifter or something simple but he knew he'd do anything to protect her.

Seeing Carl Miller today was even weirder. What a blast from the past… he was a regular at the Harvelle Roadhouse. He pushed those thoughts from his mind. Too painful…

"Don't laugh," Victoria said, cracking the door to the bathroom. She took a deep breath, smoothing out her skirt in embarrassment. She hated this whole church look. She felt stupid. She opened the door all the way this time, stepping into the motel room.

"Well, would you look at that? Underneath it all, she's a lady!" Dean teased.

"Dad!" she whined.

"I'm sorry, sweetie. You look beautiful," Dean replied, trying to hide a laugh.

"I look stupid," she corrected.

"Oh come on. It's for the greater good," Dean attempted to convince. "And you don't look stupid."

For one moment, Victoria realized how much she had been obsessing over her clothes before she realized what her dad was wearing, "Wow, and I thought I looked stupid!"

"I know, I know. Wait-. Hey, don't pin this on me! Let's get outta here and solve this case, okay? Then we can have a big laugh about how silly we both look. Now come on," Dean said.

"Yeah, yeah," Victoria agreed, snickering to herself.

Dean and Victoria got into the Impala and drove to the Rutherfords' farm land, parking right in what seemed like their driveway, although it was just a dirt road.

"Ready?" Dean asked, looking over at his daughter.

"As I'll ever be," Victoria answered, as they both got out of the car.

"You stick by my side. Anything comes up, you do what I say, okay?" Dean asked, sternly. He knew he was being harsh, but it was for her safety.

"Yes, Dad," she replied. The two walked up to house, knocking on the door.

"Yes?" the man who answered the door asked. By the looks of him, he had been crying. His eyes were red and bloodshot and it looked like he hadn't brushed his hair or changed clothes in a few days.

"Hi, Steve Rutherford?" Dean asked.

"Yes. What do you want?" he asked back, looking helplessly from Victoria to Dean.

"Mr. Rutherford, my name is Father Simmons and this is my daughter. We're new members over at St. Augustine's and heard about your recent tragedy. We just wanted to come and introduce ourselves, offer up our condolences-," Dean began.

"Don't give me that crap! Nothing-," Steven spat, before someone interrupted him.

"Steve, who's at the door?" a woman's voice asked. Steve swallowed before turning his head to see his wife standing behind him.

"Laura Rutherford. I'm his wife. It's so kind of the two of you to stop by. Come in," she smiled, warmly, opening the door. Steve sighed, before shaking his head at her and walking away. "Excuse my husband. He's not very religious."

"Understandable," Dean nodded, as the he stepped into the house, Victoria following.

"Can I get you something? Coffee?" she asked.

"That sounds great," Dean smiled.

"I'm fine, thanks," Victoria spoke up.

"Are we allowed to do that?" Victoria muttered to her dad. In response, he simply shrugged, causing her to bite her tongue so she didn't laugh.

"Please, take a seat," she replied, motioning towards the living room.

"Thank you," Dean said, as he and Victoria walked into the living room, sitting down on the couch.

Suddenly, there were footsteps and slamming of the front door. Laura shortly returned with two mugs filled with coffee.

"Thank you," Dean said again, taking the cup of coffee.

"Father Paul came to the wake. It was so nice for them to send over someone else," Laura said, sitting down in the love seat.

"We just wanted to say how sorry we are about your daughter. She was… how old?" Dean began.

"Twenty one. She was taking off a semester of college and living here just to work and figure things out for herself. And then… this. We knew she was struggling, but we didn't know it was this bad. If we had known-," Laura answered, stopping herself when it got too hard to say.

"I understand, but there's no way that you can blame yourself for all of this. She is with the Lord now," Dean said. "Whatever hardships she was enduring, I can assure you that she's in good hands."

Laura nodded. Victoria tried not to laugh as she watched this woman just buy into what her father was saying. She glanced over at her dad, watching him lie through his teeth. "And what was the thing in the papers? It seems like there have been a number of suicides lately. Something about seeing dead loved ones?"

"Oh no. You can't believe everything you read in those. Those are-, those are lies. No, Heather wasn't crazy, she…" Laura trailed off.

"That's not true," a voice said, causing all three of them to look to the side of the room, where a boy around Victoria's age stood in the doorway.

"I'm sorry. That's my son. He's… he's been upset by all of this. He's not thinking straight," Laura defended, shaking her head.

"What? You're going to pretend like nothing happened? This is bullshit!" he exclaimed, storming out of the house.

"I'll be back, Dad," Victoria said, her eyes glued to the boy as she followed him out.

"You were saying?" Dean asked.

Out on the porch, the boy just stood, looking out onto the many acres of land that stretched before him. Victoria stood a few feet behind him as they both just stood there in silence.

"Heather was your sister, right?" Victoria asked.

He nodded slowly, "Yeah she is- was." He turned to face her and at that moment, Victoria realized how tall he was. He was tall, handsome with messy brown hair.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," she said.

"Thanks," he muttered. Another long silence prevailed before she broke it.

"I'm Victoria," she introduced.

"Peter," he answered.

"Well, Peter, what if I told you I believed you? You know, about the whole dead loved one thing?" Victoria asked.

"You do?" he asked, hopeful.

"Yeah. Could you uh, could you tell me the story of what happened?" Victoria asked.

He nodded slowly again, "She started getting these weird calls… weird facebook messages. I don't know what they said but she claimed they were from our mom."

"But what about-," Victoria started.

"Laura's our stepmother. Our mom passed away when we I was two," Peter answered.

"I'm sorry-," Victoria started.

"It's fine," Peter said, sharply, cutting her off. "She never told me what they talked about but it went on for about a week and then she-, well… now this."

"And what makes you believe it's true?" Victoria asked.

"It wasn't just Heather. If other people have had this happen in the past month-, it's not just us and it's not just a coincidence," Peter said with determination.

"What were the messages saying?" Victoria asked.

Peter swallowed, turning ghost white, "Come to me," he whispered.

"Peter, is there something you're not-," she began, but was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening, causing Peter to jump, his eyes wide with fear.

"Ready, sweetie?" Dean asked, stepping outside.

"Uh yeah," Victoria replied, eyeing Peter suspiciously.

"Thank you so much, Father," Mrs. Rutherford said.

"I'm just carrying out God's work," Dean nodded.

She nodded, tears in her eyes as Victoria and Dean parted. As soon as they got into the car, Victoria looked over at him.

"It's God's work," she mocked.

"I know…" Dean groaned. He then turned to her. "So what'd you find out?"

"Weird stuff, Dad… I think Peter's next too," Victoria replied.

* * *

**Norman, Oklahoma**

Flynn shuffled together the messy pile of papers that he had just copied. He had been searching through archived newspapers dating back to the early 1900s of anything that seemed remotely similar to what had been going on here. He rubbed his eyes sleepily, before checking his cell phone for any word from his mom. He licked his lips, before getting up and walking over to the references desk.

"Yeah, can I get the copy of the April 25th, 1973 newspaper? Austin, Texas," Flynn asked.

"Sorry. We usually have it on the online database, but right now we only have the hardcopy," the librarian said.

"Okay, so can I check it out?" Flynn asked, glancing down at his fake student ID. He was amazed at how easily his mother had found a way to produce a fake student ID so that he could use the Oklahoma University student library.

"Right now it's being used," the librarian replied, pointing to a girl sitting over at another table, about ten feet away from him.

"Okay, thanks," Flynn replied, walking over there determined. "Hi."

"Hi," she said, looking up at him. She shot a weird look at him, which he realized was probably normal. He was being pretty weird but he blamed lack of sleep for that.

"Sorry, but you would you mind if I used that after you?" Flynn asked.

"Uh… sure, but I'm hardly done with it," she answered.

"Wh-," Flynn stammered. "Well, what do you have interest in 1973 anyways?" Damn, he wanted this newspaper. He surprised himself at how rude he was being but he needed that newspaper!

"I really love the cosmic cowboy scene," she replied.

"What?" Flynn asked, puzzled.

"Austin, Texas? The southern rock scene? You know, the-. Nevermind," she replied, shooting him a condescending look. This girl was making Flynn angrier by the second. Not only did he have her newspaper, and that he was cranky, tired, and restless, but she was being really condescending. And yet, he was strangely attracted to her soft, honey blonde waves and violet blue eyes.

That's when he noticed the article she was reading.

"There! That. I just need it for… two seconds. I just need to scan a copy. Please," he begged.

"I'm sorry, but I'm actually reading it," she replied, in a 'too bad for you' tone of voice.

Flynn opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. And that's when it hit him, "You're a hunter, aren't you? You're working this case too?" He began to smile a little, partially because he delusional but also because he had never met another hunter – especially his age – and it was exciting.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she crossed her arms over her chest. He could see it all now. The defensiveness, the "too cool for school" attitude, and the fact that she was reading a newspaper dated in the seventies. How did he miss it?

"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," he said.

She took a deep breath before showing him her wrist with the protector's tattoo on it as Flynn pulled out the necklace with the same anti-demon possession charm hanging on it.

She smiled a little, "Charlie. Charlotte but… Charlie."

"Flynn," Flynn introduced.

"So Flynn, you workin' alone?" Charlie asked.

"No, I'm uh-," Flynn said, stopping before he could say 'mom', realizing how lame he would sound. "I got family working the job with me."

"The family that slays together, stays together, huh?" she asked.

"Yeah, I guess," Flynn answered.

"Huh, must be nice," Charlie added, under her breath.

"Who are you hunting with?" Flynn asked, his eyes widening as he realized how dumb that sounded. There was no way that this girl was going to tell him that. She was all mysterious and badass and… he sounded like such a baby deer compared to her experienced huntress attitude.

"Never mind. Forget I said anything. She's-, she's the closest thing I have to family. It's whatever," she shrugged. "You know, I always thought that was a cheesy saying anyways."

"What?" Flynn asked, confused.

"The family that stays together, slays together," she reminded.

"Oh! Yeah, that. Yeah, it is cheesy," Flynn said.

She bit her lip, looking down at her newspaper, "So uh, where're you from?"

"South Dakota. You?" Flynn answered.

"Rhode Island, originally. Then things got… messy. Learned to hunt and here I am," Charlie replied, with discomfort. She had no idea why she was sharing part of life story with this hunter but she felt compelled to. He had so much compassion in his eyes, she could tell it'd be okay. But she didn't want to let her guard down. She hadn't to anyone in years – well, except for Tally but that was different.

"Look, I've got a lot of stuff so far and I have an idea about what this thing could be. You see, at first, it looks like something innocent but-," he started.

"Oh, wait. You thought we were going to-, how… rookie mistake of you," Charlie said, beginning to chuckle.

"Excuse me?" Flynn asked, offended. Here they were, having a moment together and now she was patronizing him.

"No really, it's cute. It's..." Charlie trailed off, searching for the right word. "Adorable – endearing even." She let out a laugh. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh but… You must be new at this."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Flynn stammered.

"We're hunters, sweetie," Charlie said, reaching out to touch his hand. Flynn instantly retreated, insulted and back to the point of anger towards her. "Never trust another hunter. We don't play nice with each other very well." She began to gather her stuff, quick to bolt. "Here, I don't need it anymore."

"But-," Flynn began. She pushed the newspaper towards him before slinging her bag over her shoulder and walking away as fast as she could. She never played nice with other hunters and was afraid she just might if she had to work with this one.

Flynn just sat there in awe. What the hell?

He pulled out his cell phone just in time for it to start buzzing. His mom was calling. He answered quickly, "Hey. You're right outside? Okay, yeah. I'll be out in a few. You found something? Okay. Bye." He hung up the phone and hurried outside of the library, distressed by this Charlotte but Charlie girl.

"Hey, when we get back to the motel, we need to talk. Compare notes… I've got some stuff… it's not good, Flynn," Meredith said as he got into the car.

"Is everything okay?" Flynn asked, worriedly. He threw his backpack at his feet before shutting the car door.  
"Yes, but there are some… unexplainable… more like impossible things. I-, I can't say here," Meredith answered, as she began to drive the car. "How was the library?"

"Fine. Mom, I think there's another hunter working this case too," Flynn started.

Meredith froze, "Do you know who?"

"No. I only got a first name. She-, she's around my age, rude, obnoxious, cocky, a know it all, and-,"Flynn began to rant. Meredith shot him a look. "Sorry, I-, never mind. Anyways, no, I have no idea who it is."

Meredith nodded slowly, "Well, Flynn, we're going to have to find her. No matter what kind of hunter she is, it's way too big for two sixteen year olds to take on."

* * *

**Ridgeway, Wisconsin**

"Phone calls and e-mails from dead loved ones. Sound familiar?" Victoria asked.

Dean nodded, "Yeah, it's a crocotta."

"Oh yeah! I remember reading about those in the study at the center. The one you and Uncle Sam encountered was luring people to suicide so it could suck their souls out, right?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah. So be careful, okay? Whatever kind of phone calls you get. If they're from me, you'll know," Dean said.

"How?" Victoria asked.

"We'll have some kind of code word like… apple pie," Dean said. Victoria shot him a weird look. "What? I like apple pie."

"Okay, Dad. Apple pie it is," she snickered.

"So if I mention apple pie in the conversation, you'll know it's me. Or if you ask for the code word, I'll say, 'apple pie' and you'll know," Dean said.

"Speaking of," Victoria said, turning the little sign on the table around to see the desserts featured today. "The best apple pie in the world. Yeah right."

She and Dean both exchanged glances.

"Do you want to see if it really is the best apple pie in the world?" Dean asked coyly.

"I mean… we'd really be passing up the opportunity," Victoria replied.

"And what if it really was and we missed out," Dean replied.

"This everything?" the waitress asked, coming by their table at the diner to check on the two of them.

"Actually, we're going to get a slice of apple pie, thanks," Victoria told her.

"Alright," she replied, before leaving the table. Victoria and Dean exchanged glances before laughing. The waitress came by, shortly, with a large slice of pie on the plate. "One slice of apple pie."

"Thanks," Dean said.

"Wow, this looks amazing," Victoria replied. The two picked up their forks and dug in.

"Oh, that's good!" Dean exclaimed, his mouth full.

"Mhm," Victoria sounded. "So what do we do now about the whole crocotta thing?"

"Tonight, we sleep. Tomorrow, we go check the caller number of the victims and we track down the son of a bitch," Dean replied.

"Ah... you make it sound so simple," Victoria sighed. "What the hell?!

All of a sudden, there was coffee being spilled all over their table as a man stumbled in front of them, dropping his mug.

"I'm so sorry!" He exclaimed, scrambling for napkins.

"It's fine, we've got it," Dean muttered, bitterly.

"I really am sorry," he stammered.

"It's fine!" Dean said, determined to get him to leave.

"Right, right… uh… apple pie. Good one," the man said, Victoria noticing a weird glint in his eye. The man dried his coffee soaked hands off on a napkin, before balling it up and leave the diner.


	8. The Hunt Pt 2 - Victoria and Dean

Author's Note: I know I've been very bad for not updating even though I've been on break. I've just been working and catching up on sleep. I know. Excuses, excuses. But here's a super long chapter. The next one will feature Meredith and Flynn's part of the hunt and then finally coming home to each other. I know I just spent three chapters on this darn hunt. Oops. I just had too many ideas!

* * *

"It's definitely a crocotta. It's the same phone number as the last one we faced: SHA33. Now we just have to find out who it is and gank the damn thing. I think I saw one of the guys at the phone company lookin' a little weirdly," Dean said, joining Victoria at her table outside.

Victoria had been sitting outside at a table, keeping an eye on the phone company building right across the street while she had some midday coffee.

"So how do we figure out who it is?" she asked, looking up at her dad.

"Well, we keep an eye on the place. See if we can track it through the victims and go on a stake out here," Dean replied.

"Sweet," Victoria said. She then pushed a cup of coffee towards her father. "Got you something."

"Thanks, kid," Dean chuckled, taking the coffee cup into his hands.

"So new game plan: We find the thing, and... how exactly do we kill it again?" Victoria asked.

"Stab it right through the spine," Dean said, satisfied as he drank his coffee, causing Victoria to laugh.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw something - well, more like someone that she recognized. She jumped to her feet, pushing her chair out of the way before saying, "I'll be right back, Dad," and jogging towards the guy.

"Peter!" Victoria called out. The boy froze in his tracks before turning around to look at her. Victoria tried not to react but could immediately see that something was wrong. His face was pale and there were dark circles under his eyes, indicating that he hadn't gotten any sleep last night.

"Hey," he said evasively.

"Everything okay?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, getting another good look at him. Yeah, Peter was next and this proved that there was no doubt about it. Then again, his sister had just died but she had that gut instinct and was sure she was right.

"Yeah.. I uh, I just didn't sleep much last night. That's all," Peter answered, fidgeting with the sleeves on his jacket.

"What's been going on? You're getting them, aren't you? The calls-," she stopped as Peter's eyes widened, looking around to see if anyone were listening.

"Shhhhhhhhhhh! Can we not talk about it here?" he asked, lowering his voice.

Victoria nodded slowly, "Yeah, okay." She could tell that Peter didn't want to talk about it, especially here, but she knew he could be the key to finding the crocotta and she was not about to give up on him.

"Look, if… if something's wrong-. Here, can I see your phone?" Victoria asked.

"Wh-," Peter stammered, frozen. "Wh-, why?"

"It's okay. Do you trust me?" she asked, gently, reaching out and touching his hand. She knew it was yet another tactic to get him to trust her, but he made it easy. He was...a really good looking guy but she reminded herself that she wasn't here for that and that she'd be leaving in a few days anyways. And that she was with her father...

He paused for a moment, just staring at her. She had given him no reason to and she had so much compassion in her eyes. He took a deep breath before saying, "Yeah. Here." He gave her his phone and she took it, gingerly.

Quickly, Victoria put her cell phone number into his phone, of course, not without checking the caller history. Sure enough there the number was: SHA33.

"Call me if you need anything or want to finish this conversation sometime," Victoria said.

Peter nodded quickly, looking around again. Was he really afraid that the crocotta was going to attack him right here in public, in broad daylight?

"And... uh, I mean, we are new in town... I could use a friend," Victoria continued, turning the charm on.

"I'll call you," Peter replied.

"Okay," she said back. "I'll see you around, Peter."

"Thanks," he mumbled, beginning to walk away.

At that moment, Victoria remembered her hunter-self and not the girl that thought this guy was cute-self.

"I mean it, Peter. If anything… weird happens, call. I know that no one in this town believes you about the weird voices and everything, but we-, I do. I believe you, Peter and uh, well, I think I know of a way to help," Victoria said, firmly.

"I will," Peter replied, before finally leaving. There was something in his voice that told Victoria that she had won him over and would call. She walked from her place on the sidewalk back to her dad at the cafe table. She noticed the smug look on his face as he watched, amused.

"What?"

"Nope. Nothing," he shrugged.

"Dad!" she whined.

"I saw the way you flirted your way into his trust. You are so my kid!" Dean teased, letting out a hearty laugh.

"I did not!" Victoria protested, crossing her arms over her chest. She was only defensive because she knew it was true.

"Yes, you did! You did that thing where you tilt your head to one side. Your mom does it all the time! Believe me. You thought I wouldn't pick up on that?" Dean asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I do not do that! You're-," she started, but then stopped as she realized she does do that. She took a deep breath. "Fine. So?"

Dean shrugged, "Hey, you learned from the best, kiddo. It's that Winchester charm."

She chuckled, "You and Mom are bad influences on us."

"Correction: we teach you real world skills," Dean replied.

Just then, his cell phone began to ring. Dean picked up his phone from off of the table and frowned as soon as he saw the caller ID. Victoria shot him a look and he glanced from her then back to the phone, letting out a heavy sigh. He swallowed before picking it up, "Hello?"

"Dean," a female's voice said.

"Who is this?" Dean demanded, angrily, although he already knew who it was.

"Dean, it's me. Jo," the voice said. Dean immediately hung up the phone. "Son of a bitch."

"What? Who was it?" Victoria asked, worriedly.

"Nevermind. Just... just an old friend. That's all," Dean said.

"The...," Victoria started, looking around to make sure no one was listening, "crocotta?"

"Yeah," Dean said. "Son of a bitch had the nerve to pretend to be-, goddammit."

"Dad, are you okay?" Victoria asked.

Dean took a deep breath in attempts to calm himself down, "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's go back to the motel and get ready for the stakeout."

* * *

After patrolling all night long and nothing, Victoria and Dean searched for more clues around town. Victoria waited in the car as her dad was once again, inside the phone company building searching around.

"What is that?" she asked as she watched two men come out of the back door of the phone company building. She peered at the two men, watching them talk. Was that…?

The man from the diner that spilled the coffee on their table. She had had a feeling that it had been no coincidence. He was talking to the other man before the two shook hands. Victoria quickly pulled out her camera, taking a few photos of both men, before putting her camera away.

The man from the diner started to leave and the other one went back into the building. Victoria looked around her. She knew she wasn't supposed to leave the car but she could be on to something. She took the Impala car keys out of the ignition before jumping out of the car and shutting the door quietly. She silently walked fast towards the man before he got in his car, speeding off.

Damn it.

She took pictures of the license plate hoping her dad would be able to run the plates and see who it was.

She was on her way back to the Impala as she stopped, spotting the car that the second man had parked. If her suspect was the crocotta, this man couldn't be good either. She tried the door, only to find it was locked.

She remembered an old trick her dad had taught her about car doors before undoing her shoelaces, taking it off the shoe completely, and then knotting it. She hooked the lace at the corner of the door and let it slide into the car, sawing it downwards until the knot was right at the lock. She maneuvered it right onto the lock, pulling it up.

Bingo. She smiled to herself, triumphantly.

"Now what do we have here?" she asked, opening the car door and peering into it.

An empty fast food bag and napkins were sprawled out in the back seat. A road map and a water bottle lay there as well. She then checked the front. Nothing. Glove compartment…

Victoria opened it up, her eyes widening as she saw a gun. She had a bad feeling about this guy. Just then, the door to the building opened and someone walked out.

Shit! Victoria crouched down in the space between the passenger seat and the dashboard as the person walked by. She waited for the footsteps to stop, silently, holding the gun in her hand. As soon as she heard the sound of a car leaving, she peered her head up, seeing no one.

Although that was a close one, she knew she needed to get out now. She unlatched the gun, emptying all the bullets into her hand and making a quick escape, back to the Impala.

"Hey, I think I found something. The office was empty but I snooped around. All signs point to him," Dean said, as he knocked on the car window to the Impala, causing Victoria to jump out of surprise, looking up from the book she was reading.

"Oh, hey, Dad," Victoria said. "That sounds great. So uh… how do we know who it is? Did we get a name?"

"Yeah. We'll follow him," Dean said back.

She nodded, "Okay."

"Right," Dean said, unconvinced.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"You expect me to believe that you've just been sitting in the car this whole time reading… that thing?" Dean asked.

"Dad, seriously-," Victoria said.

"I don't believe it," Dean challenged.

She sighed, "Okay, for the good of the case…"

"I knew it!" he exclaimed.

"Dad," she groaned. "Before you get all mad, just look at these." She pulled out her digital camera from her purse, turning it on and scrolling through the pictures. License plates. The guy from the diner just happens to work here? I doubt it. I was wondering if you could run these plates. They just might match up with what you found in there."

Dean sighed, "I'll save the scolding for later. You did good, kid."

Riiiiiiiiiiing! Riiiiiiing!

Dean swallowed, preparing himself for another call from Jo or maybe the crocotta was going to use his dad or Bobby against him. He pulled out his phone, staring at the blank screen, "I think it's you."

"Oh," Victoria said, reaching for her phone in her purse. She pulled it out, answering it.

"Victoria, you-, you said I could call…" the voice trailed off. "If I needed help. I don't want to put you in any danger. I just-, I didn't know what to-, you-, you were right."

"Peter?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah," Peter answered.

Victoria nodded, "We'll be right there, Peter. Stay where you are and don't panic."

"What was that?" Dean asked.

"Peter Rutherford. He's in trouble. I told you he was the next victim, Dad," Victoria said, worriedly.

"Well, then let's go," Dean said back.

* * *

Once Dean had made sure that Peter was really the one calling, he and Victoria decided to do a divide and conquer. He had looked up the plates and sure enough, it was the same man at the phone company whose office was literally filth. It had to be him. Just then, he got a phone call.

Earlier...

"And then all of a sudden, my phone went black and I kept getting these text messages..." Peter trailed off.

"From... from Connie?" Victoria asked.

Peter nodded slowly, face pale and eyes wide, "Yeah."

"What'd she want?" Victoria asked.

"She-, she said it wasn't safe at home. She said that's why she killed herself. She said-, she said she wanted me to join her," Peter stammered.

"How?" Victoria asked, softly, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looked up at her, smiling a little.

"She wanted me to get Dad's gun from-," Peter started.

"No, how did she say it?" Victoria interrupted, eagerly. "Sorry."

"It's okay. She kept saying... "come to me." Over and over again. That's what each text said," Peter answered, looking around as if he were afraid someone would hear them.

Victoria froze, "That's not your sister, Peter. It's the thing that killed your sister."

"Wh-," Peter asked, and in a second, he was lying at her feet. Victoria looked down to Peter jaw dropped only to look up and see the man from the phone company.

"Well done," he smirked, before knocking her out too.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiing. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiing.

"Yeah?" Dean asked, answering his phone.

"Hey, Dad. I think we found something," Victoria said back, over the phone.

"Yeah, what's up?" Dean asked back.

"Well, after calming Peter down, I explained it all to him. He thinks he can help," Victoria replied.

"Okay," Dean started.

"I told him who I thought it was. He said he knew the guy. He was knew in town and had just started working at the phone company... around the time the deaths started to occur. We did a little internet research and uh... well, we got an address," Victoria said, giddily.

"Atta girl! Alright, give it to me and I'll check the place out," Dean smiled, proud of his daughter.

"Great. I'll stay here with Tyler. Make sure the crocotta doesn't try anything else," Victoria said.

"You better not do anything I wouldn't do," Dean warned, jokingly.

"That's not a lot, Dad..." Victoria teased with a laugh.

"Pretend I was a straight A student, straight edge kid in high school, okay?" Dean joked.

She laughed, "Yeah, okay. Bye, Dad."

"Well, that was too easy," the man's voice said, hanging up the phone.

The real Victoria sat, tied up in the chair, glaring at the man. She couldn't believe she had fallen for it. It was all a trap and now there was an innocent at risk. She glanced over at Peter who was also tied up, scared out of his mind. She knew she couldn't scream or fight him just yet. She had to untie these ropes and then she'd fight. She only worried about her dad. She had no idea where the crocotta had led him to.

LINEBREAK

As Dean pulled up to the address, he swiftly got out of the car, noticing that it looked like no one was home. He tried the back door, finding it to be locked. He got out his lock pick before the door swung open. He looked around, checking to make sure no one saw him, before entering the house and closing the door behind him.

He looked around the house. All lights were off and it was quiet. He'd snoop around and if he found what he was looking for, he'd wait it out - attack the crocotta when he was least expecting it. The place was messy, but he wasn't going to write it off as crocotta-messy just yet.

Meanwhile...

"You wouldn't come to me... so I thought I'd come to you," the crocotta said, holding the knife in its right hand. "You are going to make a great meal." He leaned into Peter's face, inhaling deeply.

"Or maybe you first. I can't decide which. Oh, and by the way, your dad's on his way to his death. Tricky, tricky creatures we are," the crocotta said, coming over to Victoria and placing the knife against her neck. Instead of pressing hard, he only grazed her neck with the knife, causing Victoria to suck in a sharp breath.

"Actually, I'll wait. I want you to hear the last step of my plan set into motion," the crocotta said. Victoria had almost untied the knot as she feared what the crocotta would do next.

He pulled out a cell phone before pressing a few buttons and holding it to his ear. In a completely different voice he spoke, "Mr. Gunther, this is inspector Jones. I've unconvered some unsettling news..." "Yes. Yes, of course." "The man who murdered your wife. Yes. Him. I know you believed all along it was a murder. Yes. of course. That's what you hired me to do. Well, he's on his way to your house now. I think he wants to finish you off. Yes, and hurry. Goodbye, Mr. Gunther."

"No. You wouldn't, you-, you sent my dad to-," Victoria stammered, feeling as though the life had been sucked out of her.

"Right into the devil's trap. Figuratively speaking, of course," the crocotta said. "Now where were we?" He then raised the knife, making his way to a scared, shaking Peter.

There. Victoria pulled her wrists apart, and charged towards the crocatta, pushing him down to the ground as he took her with him.

"You little-," The crocotta started, raising the knife to her now. Victoria rolled over, dodging the stab before trying to get up. "Not so fast. The crocotta grabbed her ankle, pulling her back down to the ground.

"You think it'd be that easy, Winchester?" the crocotta sneered.

Her eyes widened, "How do you know my-?"

He had his hands around her neck, causing her to cough and writhe beneath him, attempting to escaped his grip.

"No! Victoria look out!" Peter exclaimed, seeing the crocotta with knife in hand. He rocked his chair back and forth, until it tipped over, right onto the man. The crocotta, stuck beneath the chair attempted to angle the knife towards Peter as he wiggled in the chair, causing it to continuously hit the crocotta.

"Alright, you're first," the crocotta said, shoving Peter and the chair off of him and grabbing the knife, chasing after Peter.

"No!" he yelled.

Victoria did the first thing she could think of. She grabbed a pointy soccer trophy off of Peter's dresser, before stabbing it right into the crocotta's spine, just as he pressed the knife against Peter. The knife fell to the floor, as did the crocotta.

"Holy shit," Peter panted.

Victoria nodded, eyes wide, "You can say that again."

"You saved me," Peter said.

Victoria chuckled, "I don't know. That chair move was pretty damn good." Peter licked his lips, nodding slowly. "Here." She picked up the knife and cut the ropes that had Peter tied up.

"Thank you," he said. "For everything."

"It's-, don't worry about it. But uh, if there's any way you could drive me to my dad," Victoria said.

"Of course!" Peter interrupted.

"What was the address again? Uh... 20...205 209...?" Victoria struggled.

"I know it. The man who lost his wife. Red Gunther. Come on," Peter encouraged.

"How do you-?" Victoria began.

"Small town," Peter shrugged, before the two exchanged a smile and hurried off.

* * *

"Come on, Dad. Pick up, pick up, pick up," she pleaded as the phone rang. Her heart was pounding in her chest and she could barely breathe. Every nerve in her body felt like it was about to jump out of her skin.

"Hello?" Dean asked.

"Dad it's me," Victoria said.

"Now's not a really great time, sweetie," Dean whispered.

"Dad, what's going on? Where are you? Are you at the-," Victoria began, worriedly.

"Yes. I'm at the address that you gave me," Dean said.

"Dad, that wasn't me. It was the crocotta. He was setting you up. You've got to get out of there now!" Victoria demanded.

"Wait. What was the-, are you okay?" Dean asked, panicked.

"I'm fine. I'm-," Victoria started.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing in my house!" a loud voice on the other end of the phone shouted, causing Victoria to tense up.

"Dad. Dad! Are you there? Dad!" Victoria pleaded. And just as she said her last word, the call ended.

"Shit," she swore.

"This was all a big misunderstanding," Dean said, holding his hands up as the man held a gun straight out, pointing right at him.

"Why did you kill my wife?" the man asked, angrily.

"I didn't kill your wife!" Dean exclaimed.

"Then why are you in my house? Come to finish off the job? Come on. At least admit it like a man," the man demanded, hostile.

"No, but-," Dean said, taking a step towards him.

"You stay right there! Take one more step and I'll-," the man said, cocking the hand gun. "I want some answers. And then I'll shoot."

"Look, this is a big misunderstanding. Someone misled you to think I was the-, and I was mislead to think that you... that you were a killer too," Dean tried to reason.

"What is it with you criminals? You're a psychopath liar, you know that? If I didn't shoot you, I'd have you locked up for life. You deserve this, you know? After what you did... I'm letting you off easy with just a bullet. The way you... tortured and... 48 hours in confinement?! What kind of sick bastard-, ANSWER ME!" the man screamed.

"I-," Dean stammered, not knowing what to say back.

Before he could utter another word, the man pulled the trigger, causing Dean to flinch. And when nothing happened, he opened his eyes, looking at the gun.

The man kept pulling the trigger but nothing.

"What the-," the man stammered. Dean looked around before bolting towards the front of the house. The front door had been left wide open as he scrambled to get in the Impala as the man chased him out of the house.

"I'll have you killed. I'll hire someone. You won't get away with this. I swear to God!" the man yelled, banging on the windows as Dean put the car in reverse. And with that, he floored it right out of that driveway.

He drove straight away from the house, passing a green car.

"Peter stop!" Victoria yelled, seeing the Impala speed by them.

"I-," he started.

"U-turn," he suggested, desperately.

"This isn't legal..." he trailed off.

"I'm sorry," she begged.

He quickly did a U-turn, causing the wheels to squeak before following the black 67 Chevy Impala while Victoria made a phone call.

"That was a close one," Dean said, lightly.

"Dad! You're alright," Victoria gasped.

"Yeah. Is that you following me?" he asked.

"Uh huh," Victoria answered.

"Where's the crocotta?" Dean asked.

"Ganked," Victoria smiled, proudly.

"What?!" Dean exclaimed, surprised.

"I'll explain it all when we get back to the motel, Dad," Victoria chuckled.

"Sounds good. How about we go get something to eat and head back for a good night's sleep," Dean suggested.

"Sounds great to me," she answered, before hanging up.

"Where to now?" Peter asked, looking over at her.

"King's Diner. The best apple pie in the world, apparently," Victoria joked. "Hey, and thanks for driving me today. I know we just missed him, but I think waiting there would've driven me crazy."

Peter nodded, "I know. My family's experienced enough loss over the past month that I wouldn't wish it on anyone else."

"Well, thank you," Victoria replied.

"What're you thanking me for? I should be thanking you for saving my life," Peter pointed out.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't have been able to do it without your soccer trophy," Victoria joked, causing Peter to laugh.

"So how'd you get into all of this anyways? I take it this isn't the first..." Peter began.

"Monster?" Victoria suggested.

"Yeah," he said back. "Well, yeah. The first monster you've killed. God. Who knew that the monsters under your bed we all feared are actually... well, real."

"I don't know. I wasn't that imaginative as a child. I wasn't conjuring up voice mimicking monsters in my dreams," she teased.

"That's not what I-," Peter started, chuckling.

"I know," she said back and then sighed. "I-, it's a long story. My parents were born into it and so were we. We've just managed to balance it with a normal life." She then thought it over. She must sound like some Superman God-complex egomaniac. "You must think I'm such a freak. Or at least narcissistic."

Peter shook his head, "No. I think what you and your family does is good. I mean, if that stuff is out there, someone's got to fight it, right?"

Victoria nodded slowly, "Yeah, I guess so."

"I'm glad I met you," Peter said, looking over at her.

"Me too," she replied, sincerely.

* * *

"Okay, tell me again," Dean smiled proudly at his daughter.

"Dad, no. You're so embarrassing," she said, burying her face in her hands.

"What?" A father can't be proud of his daughter?" he asked, innocently.

She sighed, "Fine. I stabbed the crocotta with Peter's soccer trophy. You happy?"

"Right through the spine?" Dean asked.

"Right through the spine!" she bragged.

"You're too much, kiddo," he chuckled.

"I'm not going to lie. It was scary. I'm always used to having Flynn with me or you and Mom but... this one was alone," Victoria confessed.

"The first one is always scary and thrilling. You don't know what to do and you're running on pure instinct... call me psycho-," Dean started.

"Okay, psycho," Victoria teased.

"But there's so much of a thrill to it," Dean completed.

Victoria nodded, "I can agree with that."

"There's something that doesn't quite add up though," Dean started.

"What's that?" Victoria asked.

"The man whose house I was sent to-," Dean started.

"Oh, the crocotta was pretending to be a private investigator and basically told the guy.. Gunter or whatever that he found out who the murderer of his wife was and that it was you. Come to finish the job," Victoria explained.

Dean nodded, "But what I was going to say was the man today, his gun. It was empty. I mean, what kind of vengeful man shows up to a showdown with the guy that killed his wife with no bullets in his gun."

"Oh. That," Victoria said, looking down.

Dean frowned, "What?"

"Well..." she trailed off, climbing off her bed to get her purse. She rummaged through it, pulling out a handful of bullets to a shocked Dean.

There was a long silence before he finally spoke, "I thought I told you to stay in the car."

"Yeah, and if I hadn't, you'd be dead right now," Victoria shot back.

Dean smiled, "So my kid," causing Victoria to laugh.

"So uh, Dad, do you mind if I ask one thing?" Victoria asked, quietly.

"Yeah, shoot," he said back.

"The girl that called... well, the one the crocotta was pretending to be. Who was it?" Victoria asked.

Dean sighed, swallowing, "Jo Harvelle."

The pain in his eyes confused Victoria, "Did you-, were you in love with her?"

"No! No. Not in love with her," Dean chuckled, shaking his head. "She was a friend of your mom, Sammy, and I. She and her mother... died saving us on a hunt."

"And you never forgave yourself," Victoria added, picking up on it. "Crocottas.. those bastards..."

"Language!" Dean said, jokingly.

"Please, Dad. Like you don't use worse," Victoria shot back.

"It was just, seeing Carl Miller brought up all the Roadhouse memories. And then the call-, it's been a long weekend," Dean explained.

"I get it," Victoria said, nodding. Again, another silence.

"So tomorrow," Dean started, breaking the silence.

"What?" Victoria asked.

"How about we head home?" Dean suggested, a smile on his face.

"That sounds perfect," Victoria answered.


	9. The Hunt Pt 3 - Meredith and Flynn

"I looked up the symbols that have been carved into the victims and it's some kind of wiccan thing. A sacrifice, you know?" Flynn asked. Flynn watched as his mother didn't respond, but instead, stared straight ahead, her eyebrows knit and lips pressed together.

"Mom?!" Flynn asked, causing Meredith to snap out of her thoughts. "Mom, I've been calling you for a while now. What's going on?"

"Nothing, sorry. I'm just... thinking," Meredith replied, spacey, as the two sat the counter of the diner that they had made a quick stop in.

"Does have anything to do with the hunt?" Flynn asked.

"Yeah," she sighed.

"You ever going to tell me what's going on?" Flynn asked, patiently.

She nodded, "Yeah, just not here. Let's take our food to go and head back to motel. I'll explain there all over dinner." Flynn nodded to let his mom know that he was agreeing with the plan she proposed.

"Is everything okay?"

"It will be. It's just going to make things a little more complicated," she reassured, plastering a fake smile on her face. "Can we... pretend for two seconds that we're not a hunt?"

"That sounds good to me!" Flynn smiled. "But... we're going to be alright, right?"

"Yes," Meredith reassured. "You got your father's worry gene. I'm sorry about that."

Flynn laughed, "Yeah, I guess I did. I honestly don't know how you're keeping so cool about this. Well, minus the random space-outs."

"Hey, don't tease your old mother!" Meredith joked.

"Well then stop spacing-out on me, Mom! It worries me," Flynn teased, playfully.

She chuckled, "I could so go for a hot dog right now. I don't know why I just thought of that. Cravings..."

"Uh oh. Oh no. Please don't tell me you're pregnant," Flynn joked.

"What?! Oh! God no!" Meredith exclaimed, with a laugh. "I can't believe you would even-, oh my God. That's so funny..."

"Well, with you and Dad always-," Flynn started.

"Okay, okay! Is it pick on Mom day or something?" she asked, light heartedly.

"Hey, now. You brought up the cravings. I'm simply using my knowledge from health class and applying it to real world situations," Flynn defended, jokingly.

"Oh health class... I remember those... embarrassingly awkward class periods where all you talked about was sex and pregnancy," Meredith chuckled.

"It's not too bad. Victoria and I just kind of laugh the whole time," Flynn shrugged.

"Yeah, well, I sat next to your father and you can imagine how awkward he made that," she added.

"Ew," Flynn said.

"Yeah," Meredith said back, both laughing.

"Winchester, right?" someone asked, bringing over a plastic bag full of Styrofoam cartons containing their food.

"Yeah, that's us," Meredith said, taking the bag into her hands.

"Thanks for coming in. and here's your receipt," the waitress said, gesturing towards the receipt that had already been stapled to the plastic bag.

"Thanks," Flynn said.

"Have a great nice," she said to the two of them.

"You too," Meredith said back. "Come on." She got up off of the diner stool as the two of them headed towards the 1963 black Mercury Comet. "So... top down?"

"Yeah. It feels great outside," Flynn said. "Here." He took the food out of Meredith's hands so that she could roll the top down to the car. As soon as it was down, she secured it and then got into the driver's seat, putting the keys into the ignition and turning the car on.

"You're right. It feels great outside," she smiled. Even though her hunch about this hunt was a very strong one, she knew that her family would get through this. And even if times got tough, there was no reason to ruin a moment like this. She was on a hunt with her son and he was doing so well so far. She smiled to herself. She and Dean had done well with these kids.

"Music?" Flynn asked.

"You pick," she smiled at him.

"Sweet," he said.

* * *

"Nope, everything's going fine, babe. Yeah, I miss you too," Meredith said into the phone. Flynn rolled his eyes playfully as he listened to his parents have all the lovey-dovey phone talk.

"Victoria's doing great here, just in case you were wondering," Dean said.

"I bet," Meredith said back.

"Well, I should go. We're going on a stakeout," Dean started.

"Mmkay. I love you," Meredith replied.

"What're you wearing?" Dean smirked. "I mean, the stake out is going to be long and I'm lonely... and I miss you."

"Goodbye, Dean," she laughed, rolling her eyes playfully as she hung up the phone.

Flynn flipped through the case file, looking at only the ones from this specific case, "Well, it looks like the killer or... whatever the thing we're hunting is, is targeting younger kids. I mean, not kids but teenagers. Like me and like... well, the girl I met today. Guess it's trying to make it look like some crazy serial killer who has a fetish for kids."

"Yeah, I see that," she nodded in agreement, looking up once from the leather bound journal she was looking at.

"Hey, is that Grandpa John's journal?" he asked.

"No, actually. It's... Bobby's," Meredith replied.

"How did we know Bobby anyways? I mean, I know he was really important to you and Dad and Uncle Sam and Aunt Sawyer, but was he related to us or something?" Flynn asked, curiously.

"No, he was kind of... like an uncle to us, I guess. I mean, he practically raised me and was definitely more of a father to any of us than our own fathers were," Meredith started. "Bobby was a really incredible person. We were... a group of misfit hunters and somehow became a family. Bobby was kind of the glue that held us together."

"I wish I could've met him," Flynn said.

Meredith nodded, "Yeah, me too. He would've loved you and Victoria."

"So what does Bobby's journal say..?" Flynn asked, hesitantly.

"Well, um, I'm reading some of the notes he made about the cases... right after Dean came back from hell. There are a lot of similarities between this one and another one that another hunter took care of. Bobby was in communication with the hunter and took some notes," Meredith answered.

"Okay, so what does it say? Is it witches? It seems like witches. Dad says witches are whores," Flynn rambled.

"I-," Meredith started, before laughing. "I don't think you should listen to your dad on that one."

"Hah, okay," Flynn chuckled.

"Things were... messy at the time. There was a demon called Lillith who was breaking seals to open the gates of hell," Meredith said.

"Woah," Flynn whistled.

"Yeah," Meredith nodded. "Each seal was like... well, kind of like a different task. Kill a reaper, the rising of the witnesses... If this case is some quest to break a seal, then-."

"Then someone's trying to open up Hell," Flynn said.

Meredith nodded, "Exactly."

Flynn took a moment to absorb it all, "But the wiccan symbols... that doesn't make much sense."

"I know. That's what doesn't add up. In the last case like it-," Meredith started.

"Here," Flynn said, ruffling through the file he had created. He pulled out all of the articles from 2008. "October eleventh?"

"Yeah," Meredith said, checking the date with Bobby's journal notes.

"The same wiccan symbols... do you think this demon, assuming it is a demon, is working with witches?" Flynn asked.

"Maybe..." Meredith trailed off, thinking it over.

The deaths had been of normal people. That had investigated it. But the one body that was never found. That name. It was so familiar.

Tracy MacArthur.

"Hold on."

She flipped through Bobby's contact pages and there it was. Doug and Sheenah MacArthur. Residence: Norman, Oklahoma. Sure it was a common last name, but what were the odds?

"I think this thing is killing hunters," Meredith finally said.

"What?" Flynn asked.

"I don't know. It's just a theory. But all the people that were killed... their bodies were found. The one body that wasn't found happens to belong to one of the most notorious hunter families: the MacArthurs. I don't know yet, but their contacts are listed here in Bobby's journal," Meredith began.

"Oh my God," Flynn gasped.

"Yeah," Meredith replied.

"So... let me call," Flynn said.

Meredith nodded, "Okay."

Flynn picked up his phone before dialing the number, "Yes? Hi, this is Inspector Page from the Norman Regional Hospital calling for..." he paused to check Bobby's contacts again. "Doug or Sheenah MacArthur."

"Yes, this is Sheenah," the woman said back.

"We uh, we found a body at the hospital and would like you to come identify it. We believe that it might be your daughters," Flynn said, sternly, glancing over at his mom. Meredith gave him a thumbs up. Since when had her youngest son learned to do this? Man, they were growing up way too quickly.

"Excuse me?! The body was never found! How dare you? Who is this? Is this some kind of sick prank call or something?" Sheenah shouted into the phone.

"Your daughter is Tracy MacArthur, correct?" Flynn asked back.

"Yes," the woman answered.

"I think that it might be best that you-," Flynn started before the line went dead and he hung up, looking at his mom. "So I got hung up on, but they confirmed that Tracy is their daughter. I just don't get why they wouldn't actually come to the hospital if someone real had called."

Meredith shook her head, "Knowing them they already looked. They probably tried to hunt the thing down, even. They would've been able to find her if they tried hard enough."

"Wow, it's weird," Flynn chuckled.

"What?" Meredith asked.

"Just that you and Dad had this whole other life before us? You know, Bobby and now all these connections with the hunting world... that fact that this was your life before us," Flynn replied.

"Yeah, I can barely believe it either," she replied with a smile.

"So, if the thing is luring hunters into town... it's got us right where it wants us. Be careful, Flynn. I don't know if it's such a great idea that we split up anymore," Meredith started, changing the subject.

"Yeah, but if it gets us both-," Flynn argued.

"If it gets one of us, it'll lure the other one right to it. These things know that family, especially when it comes to Winchesters, is our weakness," Meredith said, shaking her head.

"Wait," Flynn froze. "So if the thing is really luring hunters here to kill them and break a seal, then it must be after Charlie and her sister."

Meredith's eyes widened, "Yeah."

"We've got to find them then," Flynn said, jumping up.

* * *

"Ma'am?" Flynn asked, desperately at the front desk of the Oklahoma University library.

"What can I help you with?" she asked.

"Listen, my mom's over there," Flynn pleaded, nodding over to Meredith who stood, her arms crossed, lips pursed and eyes staring daggers. "The girl I was talking to today. I think she swiped my phone. I know you're not really supposed to do this but I'm desperate and my mom will literally kill me if I don't get it back. Is there any way that you could at least give me a name or a number to call? I've tried calling my own phone but it keeps hanging up. I'm begging you."  
"I'm sorry, sir. I don't think I can-," the librarian started.

"I told you that you couldn't do it the nice way. Jesus, Christ. Losing your phone like that. That's why I never wanted to send you to college. After this semester I think your father and I will talk about other options. It'll give you time... to pull it together," Meredith growled, storming over to the desk. "Listen, we need that phone."

The librarian shifted uneasily in her chair. Maybe from Meredith or maybe from what she was about to do but instead she spoke up, "The name she left me with as she checked out the book is Sylvia Fitzgerald. And she left me with a cell phone number as well. Library policy. Don't tell anyone I'm doing this for you, but I can feel that it is... an emergency."

"Thank you. This does not mean you're off the hook," Meredith threatened.

"I know, Mom, but-," Flynn whimpered.

"No 'but's. We'll discuss this at home," she said through gritted teeth before snatching the information out of the librarian's hand, and marching Flynn right out of there. "Too much?"

"No! It was good. I thought you were going to kick my ass!" Flynn exclaimed.

"Noooo. And you too. You do the poor, victim child well," Meredith shot back.

"Alright, let's call this number," Flynn said, as they got back to the car. Meredith used a chord to plug it into her GPS. They had a plan. Flynn put the number on speaker, but not before making sure his caller information was restricted. They waited, as the phone rang.

"Mimi, where have you been? I've been calling you for hours!" the voice on the other line exclaimed. "I know you think it's witches but something just doesn't add up."

"Here, give it to me," Flynn whispered, taking the GPS from his mom. He pressed a few buttons, leaving a silence.

"Mimi? Mimi...?" the voice asked over the line. "Damn it."

"Got it," Flynn whispered, before hanging up the phone.

"How'd you do that?" Meredith asked, amazed.

"You just connect the phone to the GPS and from one GPS to another, it tracks it. Cool, huh?" Flynn asked.

"Wow, and I've just realized that my phone is outdated," Meredith said, chuckling.

"Yeah, we've been begging you and Dad to get new ones," Flynn pointed out.

"Hey, look at this. They're at the same motel as we are. Room 225," Meredith said.

"Cheapest one in town. It would make sense. They're my age," Flynn said.

"Come on. Let's hurry back," Meredith said, starting the car up.

"Well, what are we going to do then?" he asked.

"Well, with them at the same motel as us, we won't have to. We'll get a good night's sleep and then see about tomorrow. I doubt that they'll want to work together. They're hunters," Meredith answered.

* * *

All night, Flynn couldn't sleep. He'd sleep a few hours before waking up, again and again. All day, was a long day's worth of staking out room 225 and verifying Mom's theory. He was pretty sure she was right, he was just afraid for Charlie and her friend. Mimi... was it? He had his mom to guide him on the hunt but they had no one... and that worried him. Did they know that it wasn't witches? Not only would another seal be broken, but more hunters would die. Kids... just like him.

"Hey, they're on the move," Meredith said, waking him up as their parked car waited outside of the motel parking lot, across the street. He watched as the girl from the library and her friend got into a car and began to back out of the parking lot.

"Okay," Flynn said, turning the car on as the other car passed by.

"Easy. You don't want to move too fast or too slow or they'll know we're following them," Meredith said. "It's a full moon out tonight."

"Good thing we're not hunting werewolves," Flynn joked, causing her to laugh.

The car in front of them finally pulled up to the a graveyard and instead of making the turn, Flynn kept going.

"Flynn-," Meredith started.

"I know. I'm turning around and I'll take the left. That way it doesn't look like we were following them. Just in case they got suspicious, you know?" Flynn asked.

"Yeah," Meredith smiled proudly at her son.

Flynn, checking to make sure no one was coming, slowed down before making a 3-point turn on the empty road and driving straight until the turn for the graveyard.

"You drive just like your father," she chuckled.

"Hey, I've seen you drive too. Don't think I didn't notice that 90 in the 35 zone," Flynn teased.

"It was a back road!" Meredith pointed out.

"Sure," Flynn joked, unconvinced. The two quietly made their way towards the graveyard where they saw two girls staring into an open grave.

"Let's head this way," Meredith said, nodding to the opposite direction so that they'd remain unseen.

"Another body missing..." Charlie said, in disbelief.

"The first one never showed up. This one's gone," Mimi added, pulling her long, black hair into a messy bun. "I think you're right. There's no way that these are witches. I mean, what would a witch have to do with-, unless it's a sacrifice."

"Yeah, then why wouldn't they just take the body in the first place? I mean, leave it buried for five days and then-," Charlie started.

"Maybe it was a mistake. Maybe they did it to cover up," Mimi argued.

Charlie sighed, "Yeah, I guess. She turned around, walking the opposite direction. "What do you think-."

"Charlie!" she heard her best friend scream. She turned around, her eyes widening as soon as she saw a man holding her best friend being held in a headlock by an ominous man.

"Don't come a step closer," the man warned. He then began to laugh. "Witches. Cute. But this is no work a witch."

"Mimi-," Charlie chocked, taking a step closer.

"I said, don't," the man warned, pulling a knife out and pressing it to Mimi's throat.

"Charlie, don't listen to-," Mimi said, before a blood curling scream interrupted their conversation.

"I hate demons," Flynn said, pulling the knife from the demon's back as it fell to the floor in a pool of blood.

"How did you-?" Charlie began.

"Who are you?" Mimi asked, frightened.

"It's okay. We're here to help," Meredith reassured, taking a step forwards towards the two girls.

"Holy sh-," Mimi started.

"Look out!" Charlie yelled, seeing another demon.

Meredith and Flynn turned around to see three more appearing.

"Well, I guess what they say about demons is true. You kill one and three more show up," Flynn joked, making his witty quip.

"Hm. I guess you're right," Meredith answered. "You take right. I'll take left."

"Got it," Flynn replied. The demons were already at the Winchesters by the time that they were better-than-ready to fight.

The third demon went after Charlie this time, grabbing her as Mimi ran after it, screaming. Once she caught up to it, she stuck her foot out, tripping it as Charlie went down with it. On the ground, Charlie managed to push the demon off of her, getting up and running.

"Little Winchester thinks he's tough. Funny. What is it with that family? So... cocky. That's how people get hurt," the demon taunted, as it had Flynn pinned to the ground. Flynn struggled, trying to press the knife to her as she held his wrist, holding it backwards.

"Flynn!" Meredith shouted, running towards her son. The demon on the ground grabbed her ankle, pulling her to the ground and pulling her backwards. She flipped over so that her other leg was in place of the one the demon had, causing the demon to let go. "Flynn." She tried to get up as the demon again, fought against her.

She threw a punch as it fell back.

"What? Got to have your Mommy save you?" the demon sneered.

"No," Flynn gasped, before struggling with all his might to flip the demon over off of him. It reached for his neck while he stabbed. And with the drop of blood, he knew she was dying.

"Run, run, run, but you can't hide," the demon called out as Charlie and Mimi sprinted farther away from the demon chasing after them.

As the demon was catching up to them, they both split, running on opposite sides before stopping, catching their breath.

"You think splitting up is going to stop me? Just you-," the demon said, freezing as soon as it realized. "Damn it. Devil's trap. You think you're smart?"

"We know we're smart," Mimi shot back. "Take it away, C."

Charlie got out a piece of paper from her pocket before reading the exorcism for the demon. The demon left the dead boy as soon as Meredith and Flynn had caught up to the two girls, the two other demons dead and gone.

"Nice work," Meredith finally said, catching her breath.

"Flynn, right?" Charlie asked, relieved.

"Yeah, Charlie," Flynn replied.

"Wait, this is the guy from the library?" Mimi asked, curiously.

"Yeah. Flynn. Flynn Winchester," Flynn introduced. "And this is my mom, Meredith Winchester. I know. Kind of lame hunting with your mom but-, Oh. No offense, Mom."

"Hah, none taken," she said, with a chuckled.

"Uh, not when your mom is Meredith Winchester," Charlie said, staring at Meredith in amazement.

"Wh-," Meredith started.

"I'm sorry. My mom is-, was LeAnn Reynolds. She-," Charlie started, excitedly.

"Oh, LeAnn? She was a great hunter. I'm so sorry for your loss," Meredith said back.

"Yeah... it's okay. But, she told me so many things about you and your husband," Charlie said.

"Girl, you're totally fan-girling right now," Mimi teased.

"Sorry," Charlie blushed.

"Uh, will someone explain to me what's going on?" Mimi demanded.

"I had a feeling we were hunting the same case. Well, we figured out that it would be safer if we all stuck together and since Charlie here was unwilling to work with me, we tracked you guys down," Flynn explained.

"Sounds like something we'd do," Charlie nodded.

"What we just fought here... we think there's a demon luring hunters here making it look like witches," Flynn continued.

"Why?" Mimi asked.

"To kill hunters, "Meredith answered, hesitantly. "We think someone's trying to open the gates of hell again and raise Lucifer."

* * *

"If you ever need anything again, call, okay?" Meredith asked, to the two young girls.

"Of course," Charlie said, grinning.

"You guys be careful out there, okay? As much as I want to tell you guys that you're too young to be hunting out there on your own, I know you wouldn't exactly follow those instructions," Meredith chuckled.

"Look, we're going to be okay. We've been doing this for a while now. I mean, you hunt with your family. Charlie and I-, we're family," Mimi reassured.

Meredith nodded slowly, "I know... Take care."

"You too," Mimi replied.

"I'll wait in the car, Flynn," Meredith said, leaving Flynn and Charlie alone.

"Flynn. You never told me you were a Winchester," Charlie said.

"I... didn't think it was important?" he replied.

She chuckled, "Sorry for earlier. I know we got off on the wrong foot. I-, I'm a little territorial when it comes to my cases."

"A little?" Flynn teased.

"Shut up," she said, nudging him playfully. "So... thanks."

"For what?" Flynn asked.

"Well, if you hadn't stolen our case, we'd probably be dead by now. The way your mom explained everything over dinner last night, we had no idea what we were up against," Charlie answered, with a small shrug.

"Stolen your case? Okay, okay," Flynn chuckled.

"And just so you know, you're really lucky. I'm glad we ran into you guys..." she said.

"You too. I don't meet many girls like you back home," Flynn said back.

She blushed, laughing a little, "Did you just make a play at me?"

"I-, it's genetic," he explained with a small laugh.

"Gotcha," she replied.

"Come on, C. I'm starving and I want breakfast!" Mimi called from the car.

"Goodbye," Flynn said.

"Goodbye," she said back. She then walked to her car, getting in it and speeding off with her friend.

"Get in the car, lover boy," Meredith teased.

"What?" he asked, innocently as he made his way to the passenger seat. He stopped, seeing his mom in the passenger seat instead.

"Don't think I didn't see how you looked at her," Meredith answered.

"Mom, you're so embarrassing!" Flynn exclaimed, burying his face in his hands.

"I don't know. Our new friends seemed to think I'm cool," she joked, laughing at her son's embarrassment. "Oh, and you're driving. If you want."

"Yeah!" he grinned, running over to the driver's seat, pulling the door open and getting in the car. His mother handed him the keys.

"You did well, Flynn. Really, really, well," Meredith started.

"You think so?" he asked.

"Yeah," she answered.

"You ready to go home?" she asked, looking over at him with a smile.

"Definitely," Flynn answered, putting the keys into the ignition, starting the car, and driving off. It was time to go home.

* * *

Meredith and Flynn had gotten home a day before Dean and Victoria and still it worried her that it was late on a Sunday night and they still weren't home. Meredith lay curled up in bed by herself as she slept restlessly. It was weird, not having Dean here with her.

"Shit," she heard someone swear, as a loud thud rang out. She turned over in bed to see her handsome husband crawling into bed with her.

"Hey, you," she smiled.

"I didn't want to wake you up!" he whisper-groaned.

"It's okay," she shook her head. "I haven't seen you in four days. How was the hunt?"

"Great. Your daughter's quite the pistol, you know that?" Dean asked, wedging his way under the covers before wrapping his arms around his wife's waist and holding her to him, her back to his chest.

"Mm, she gets that from me," Meredith smiled, cheekily.

"She sure does," Dean smirked. "How was yours?"

"Great. Flynn is... he's the quietest one of the Winchesters so he always surprises me most. The way he conned his way into getting information on the hunt... you wouldn't believe it," Meredith said.

"That's my boy!" Dean cheered.

She laughed, "Yeah. You would've been really proud of him."

"I bet," Dean said.

"It's good to have you back home, baby," Meredith smiled, sleepily drifting off.

Dean nodded, "It's good to be home."

* * *

**Author's Note:** So that is it for this hunt. I know. it took me four chapters and I am a terrible procrastinator and never udpated. I'm sorry! Thank you so much to Deangirl93 and Tiffany Kai for reviewing the last chapter. I know i've been so bad with updating but it's really nice to know that people are still reading :)


	10. A Clean Slate

Author's Note: I know it's been forever since I updated but I'm working on it, I promise! So I know that the youngest Winchester on Sammy's side's name is really confusing. In the previous story, I definitely have him as Jackson and in this one, I've written him as Eric. Sorry about that! His name is Jackson and I will change the whole Eric thing ASAP. Sorry for any confusion!

Also, thank you to GGOTHSPNfan, TiffanyKai, Deangirl93, MissECharlotte, Anonymous, and Johanna24 for reviewing the last chapter. Reviews make me happy and make me want to update more. Got a new kickass chapter for you up next!

* * *

Flynn stood under the hot water of the shower, attempting to wake up from last night's sleep. He had slept so well after that hunt! The only way he was actually going to get himself up for school this morning, especially after this weekend, was a nice hot shower.

"Shit!" he swore as the water drastically turned from hot to cold. He turned the water up hotter but knew it was no use. The water only got colder and colder. "Victoria!" He angrily shut the water off, before stepping out of the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist.

He practically ripped the connecting door from the bathroom to Victoria's room from its hinges as it swung open.

"What the hell?!" he exclaimed, fuming.

"Woah, there. You want to put some clothes on?" Victoria asked, uncomfortably looking at her brother in just a towel.

"What?" she asked, innocently.

"Oh, nothing. I just woke up to a little surprise, that's all. I got in the shower and to my delight, the water was freezing cold. Do you have anything to… say to that?" Flynn demanded.

"Maybe you should get up earlier?" she suggested.

"Ughh!" Flynn shouted, before slamming the door. He gathered his body wash and shampoo from the shower and moved it all down the hall to the bathroom at the end of the hall that Jude and John used to share. Why had he never thought of this before? He turned on the water of the shower, waiting for it to heat up. There. Now he could wake up properly.

Maybe it was time to move bathrooms…

"Good morning," Meredith said as soon as she saw her son Flynn enter the kitchen. Flynn glanced around the kitchen to see Victoria and Dad already sitting there with his mother.

"Good morning, indeed," Flynn said. Victoria snorted, thinking it was sarcastic. "I have an announcement."

"What? You finally hit puberty?" Victoria teased.

"No," Flynn shot. "I am moving to John and Jude's bathroom. Just until they get home. I feel as though it's time and uh… well, Victoria takes way too long in the mornings anyways… and uses up all the hot water." He grumbled the last part as he got the milk and his favorite cereal from the kitchen, bringing it over to the table.

"Aww, someone's a little miffed that-," Victoria said.

"And moving the bathroom down the hall will solve all that. No more morning fights, right?" Flynn asked, satisfied. He could tell that the idea of him moving was bothering Victoria and that she was only masking it by making jokes.

"Yeah, whatever," she sighed. "Do what you want. I won't mind having the bathroom all to myself then."

Dean and Meredith exchanged glances, looking at each other like: "what is going on?"

"Well, I'm… glad that you made that decision. It sounds like it'll make you… happiest," Meredith said, choosing her words carefully.

"Thanks, Mom," Flynn said as Victoria scowled at him.

"So your Mom and I want to talk to you about something," Dean started.

"Is it the sex talk? Because you gave us that a long time ago… like five times already," Victoria asked.

Meredith laughed, "No, it is not that talk. And yes, we are aware that you may have had more than one of those talks. No, it's just the hunt Flynn and I went on in Oklahoma this past week. We're not quite sure, but it may have been a piece in the puzzle of something big."

"As in like… the First kind of big?" Victoria asked.

"Maybe. We don't know anything for sure yet," Dean reassured.

"But Mom, that whole hunt went the way you expected it. If it is some apocalyptic thing-," Flynn started.

"Look, we're trying to figure some more things out before scaring you with another apocalypse," Dean interrupted, protectively.

"Got it," Flynn mumbled.

"And we've got to tell Sammy first…" Dean trailed off, reluctantly.

"Yeah," Meredith sighed.

* * *

Renee pulled on her yoga pants over her leotard before gathering her stuff. She had just finished her morning class and didn't have class afterwards until 3:30.

"Hey, Renee!" someone called, coming into the dance studio. It was a friend of hers, Nora, who had ballet right after her contemporary class. She wasn't a dance major or anything, but was taking a dance class this semester just for fun. She hadn't really danced since high school and hadn't realized how much she missed it.

"Hey," she said back.

"There's a guy waiting for you outside. Tall, brown hair, green eyes. You know him?" Nora asked, causing Renee to freeze.

Did she know him? Yeah right. She knew exactly who that was.

"Um... yeah. Did he say what he wanted?" she asked.

Nora shook her head, "Uh uh. Just that he wanted to talk," she replied.

Renee nodded slowly, "Yeah, okay." She smiled weakly before heading out of the studio right into the lobby where she saw the one and only John Winchester sitting in one of the chairs of the dance building's lobby. He looked up as soon as he saw her, smiling.

"Hi," he said.

"Hi," she said back, not sure how to feel about it

"Um, wow. You're taking dance again," John said.

She nodded, "Yeah. John, what're you doing here?"

"Good morning to you too," John joked, sarcastically. Renee frowned. "Sorry."

Renee looked around, making sure no one was listening in on their conversation, "You can't just show up here out of the blue in the middle of the day, ambush me, and not expect me to ask! I mean... what're you doing here?"

"I-," John trailed off. "I wanted to talk, okay? About last week...?"

"And you couldn't pick up the phone and call me?" Renee asked.

John gaped, "Well-, I thought this conversation would be better in person. You're-, I knew you only had two classes today and I have no classes. I thought maybe... we could talk."

She sighed, processing it all. He had taken the train all the way up to Swarthmore and there was no way that she'd send him away, "Not here, okay?"

"Okay," John answered, satisfied with that answer. There was a lot he wanted to say to her. He just didn't know if he'd be able to.

* * *

"Alright, tell me all about it," Haley begged as soon as Victoria and Flynn sat down at their typical lunch table. Iz and Jackson were at the end of the table looking over some homework while Victoria sat down next to Haley and Flynn right across from them.

"It was awesome!" Flynn said in amazement.

"I know. I still can't believe it happened," Victoria added.

"Ughh, I'm so jealous," Haley squealed.

"I mean, you could probably come next time," Victoria said, looking over at her brother for affirmation.

"Yeah, I'm sure Mom and Dad wouldn't mind. Besides, you need to learn it too, right?" Flynn nodded in agreement.

"I know. I'd just have to get approval from my parents and I have no idea what they'd think. You know them... Mom never really hunted and Dad isn't crazy about the idea of us doing it anyways. But Cole got to so why not me?!" Haley reasoned.

"Exactly!" Victoria nodded. "Besides, the way Mom made it sound this morning, there's something big coming."

"You mean like last time?" Haley asked.

"We don't know yet," Flynn answered.

"Huh," Haley sounded.

Flynn grinned, "I still can't believe you stabbed the crocotta with a trophy. I mean, it just died then and there?!"

"Yeah," Victoria answered.

"And taking the bullets out of that gun. Good thinking," Flynn said.

"You too. The way you tracked that girl's cell phone. And by the looks of it, she was totally into you," Victoria said.

"Oh, like you didn't flirt your way into-," Flynn teased.

"I did not!" Victoria protested.

"Sure," Flynn replied, unconvinced. "Oh, by the way, I'm taking the toothpaste to the other bathroom so you're going to have to get a new one."

"How come you get to take the toothpaste?" Victoria exclaimed.

"Hey, Flynn!" Flynn heard someone call. He looked up to see one of his football buddies nodding him over to their table. "And that's my cue to leave. Because you're forcing me to move to the other bathroom. It's only fair."

"I'm not forcing you," Victoria shot.

Flynn shrugged, before getting up and heading over to the other table. Victoria sighed, rolling her eyes.

"What was that about?" Haley asked, looking up only once from cell phone which she was avidly texting on.

"Nothing. Flynn's dumb," Victoria grumbled.

"He's moving to the other bathroom?" Haley asked.

"Uh huh. He says he hates sharing," Victoria replied, bitterly.

"Sounds like someone's not happy..." Haley said, looking up again and putting her phone down.

Victoria shrugged, "He's my brother. As much as it drives me crazy sharing a bathroom with him, I'm going to miss driving him up the wall every morning. It's a part of the routine, you know? I'll... miss it."

"You two are crazy, you know that?" Haley chuckled, joking as her phone vibrated once. She picked it up opening the text message.

"Uh oh. I know that look," Victoria said, noticing her cousin's delight in whoever she was texting.

"What?" Haley asked, closing her phone quickly.

"Who's the guy?" Victoria asked, raising her eyebrows once, suggestively.

She bit her lip, looking around to make sure no one was looking before she leaned and quietly shared, "Duncan Clark."

Victoria gasped, "Duncan Clark?!"

"Shhh! Yeah. He's in my US History class and we've been... talking," Haley confessed, blushing a little.

"He's cute..." Victoria trailed off, giving her cousin a lot of credit for this one. "You do know that this is like the second guy you've been through and school 's only been in session for barely a month, right?"

"Has not!" Haley protested. Victoria just nodded.

"Evan," she said, counting on her fingers.

"That was like during the summer," Haley said.

"Yeah, but you guys went out at the beginning of the year anyways, right?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah, so?" Haley asked, blushing a little.

"I just hope this one works out for you. Besides, I'm glad you're done with Evan. You deserve so much better than that," Victoria said.

"What's wrong with him?" Haley asked.

"He's a douche bag!" Victoria exclaimed.

Haley sighed, "Yeah, you're right. Speaking of boys, anyone in particular you want to tell me about?"

"What?! No!" Victoria exclaimed.

"Oh come on! You haven't really dated anyone since Tyler," Haley pointed out.

"I-," Victoria stammered. "What about Luke during sophomore year?"

"Okay, Luke," Haley accepted.

"Look, guys just aren't on my mind right now... and I'm not quite sure how much I want to go through another thing like what Tyler and I went through with demons and stuff, you know?" Victoria asked.

"Yeah, I get it. I'm just saying. You're allowed a little fun every once in a while," Haley joked, teasingly.

The truth was, she hadn't found anyone that she had liked as much as Tyler and there was no way she'd have a boyfriend who she had to keep this secret from. It was too hard. She almost wished she could date a hunter but then again, what hunters ever stayed in more than one place long enough to actually date?

* * *

"Can I get you anything?" Renee asked. She and John had just gotten back to her apartment and were sitting in the living room.

"I'm fine, thanks," John replied, nervously.

"So what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Renee asked, anxiously. She wasn't quite sure where this conversation was going to go and was a little bit afraid.

"I uh, I wanted to come say sorry... about the other night," John answered.

"Last week?" Renee asked.

"Yeah," he answered.

"Oh. That," Renee said, quietly, avoiding eye contact. That was the night she realized that their summer fling hadn't just been a fling and wasn't quite sure she wanted to even go there. If they kept talking it, she feared she'd say something she might regret. Three words, eight letters...

"Look, I was an ass. I shouldn't have-, well, you know. I was being-, I was kind of obnoxious, huh?" he asked.

"Kind of?" Renee asked, raising an eyebrow and looking up at him.

"Okay, a lot," John corrected, blushing.

"And you took a train all the way here to tell me that?" Renee asked.

"No," John admitted, after a long pause.

"Then what?" Renee asked.

"Would you just let me-. Give me a minute, okay?" John practically begged. He wasn't quite sure how he was going to say this but he had come all the way here to do it. She was right. If he was just saying sorry, he would've called. Last week, that night, he realized something. After all the games, all the "no strings attached" bit, at the core of it, he was still in love with her. "This summer... wasn't just..."

"Wasn't just a fling for you either?" Renee asked, hopeful.

"No," John answered. It was getting easier. She used the word 'either'. So it wasn't just a fling for her too! Renee waited patiently. He had asked her to give him a minute so she did. She was going to let him drive this conversation. If he wanted what she thought he did, it was all up to him. She wasn't up for getting hurt again.

"I didn't think you were going to bring that guy and then when you did-," he started.

"But you brought a date too," Renee pointed out.

"I know..." John trailed off. "But I still-. Listen, let me take you out this weekend. I'll take the train up to the Swarthmore and we'll go out. Unless you know, you wanted to come into the city. In that case we could go to dinner or something. I don't know. Whatever-."

Renee interrupted John's ramble with a giggle, "Yes. I mean, if you're going to ramble like that over a little date, then yes," she teased, playfully.

"I'm sorry," he said, genuinely.

"I know," Renee said back, shooting him a smile.

He smiled back at her, "Can we just... clean slate? I mean, whatever this is... I don't want you to be mad at me before. And I'm sorry if I made you feel like you don't mean anything to me with this no strings attached thing over the summer, because you do."

"I know," Renee nodded. "I'm not good at this... not pushing people away. After we ended things," Renee said. "So a clean slate sounds perfect."

"Great," John said. "So Saturday... how about 8?"

"I'll meet you in the city," Renee said back, happily.

"Sounds perfect," John answered.

The two just sat there, enjoying the new feeling. It wasn't like the way they used to feel about each other. They weren't two high school kids that were crazy in love. This was different somehow. It felt more grown-up. They were about to begin something without any knowledge of where it would go and for the first time for either of them, it didn't seem to matter.

* * *

Sam walked towards his office before stopping as soon as he saw figure standing in the office, the door closed. The man was standing above the desk, fidgeting with different things on the desk. Sam charged into the office, practically yanking the door off of its hinges.

"You can't be in here!" he demanded, sternly.

"Hey, Sammy," Dean smirked, turning around to see his paranoid brother. "Did I scare ya?"

"Dean, what are you doing here?" Sam asked, relieved that it was his brother and miffed that Dean had managed to surprise him like that.

"Thought I'd come chat once classes got out," Dean shrugged, sitting in the chair across from the chair behind the desk. Sam wedged his was to his desk chair sitting down.

"About?"

"What? Your older brother can't stop by for some harmless talk?" Dean asked, innocently as he propped his feet up on Sam's desk.

"Dean," Sam warned, clearing his throat. Dean's eyes widened as if to sarcastically apologize before removing his feet. "Yes, but you never do. What's going on?"

Dean sighed, "You just get right to the point here, Sammy."

"So there is something going on?" Sam asked worriedly. "Was it something on the hunt you guys went on this weekend? I thought you said it went well."

"It did. The kids were great... it's just, Meredith found something," Dean said.

"Okay," Sam said, urging his brother to continue.

"She and Flynn went to Oklahoma, looking at a case - murders with weird symbols carved into the victims. Turns out whatever it was, was luring hunters to the town and killing them. It seemed like demons," Dean began.

"Why would demons purposefully be killing hunters?" Sam asked, confused.

"That's just it. Meredith and I got to talking and we think-, well, the demons they went up against, seemed more like body guards, not what was actually after the hunters. Minions. But the killing of hunters? This is where it gets tricky," Dean sighed. This was the last thing on the planet he ever wanted to tell his little brother. His job was always to protect Sammy. He knew in the long run it would, but right now, it'd only hurt him. "It's a seal. You kill three hunters and mark them with the symbol... it's a seal."

"Wh-, what're you saying?" Sam stammered, paralyzed. Oh no. He wasn't happy when the First had ruined their normal lives, but this? This just hit too close to home.

"I'm saying that Meredith and I both think that someone or something is out there trying to break seals," Dean confessed. "I'm sorry, Sammy. This is the last thing I wanted to tell you but we had to and we think it's best if you're involved."

Sam nodded, silently, just staring at his desk, processing it all. After a moment of silence, he looked up. Dean hadn't seen that much determination and ambition in his younger brother's eyes in a while. Sam looked Dean straight in the eyes before saying, "You're right. It is best if I'm involved. We've got to find out who's doing this and stop them before it's too late."


	11. February 1996

Author's Note: Look at me updating on 3-4 days after my last chapter. I promised I'd try! And here we are. Thank you so much to Deangirl93 and GGOTHSPNfan for reviewing the last chapter. I know I say that every chapter, but y'all really don't know how much it means to me. I love hearing feedback and really, just knowing that people are actually reading and ENJOYING the story. So, to sweeten the deal, for those that review this chapter, I will send you a sneak preview of the next chapter. A scene... or two, but most likely one (a kick ass one, might I add!). The next chapter WILL deal with Victoria hunting with John Winchester - and no, not her brother. Happy reading!

* * *

The week had flown by and Friday was upon the Winchesters. Victoria had gotten home from school and all she wanted to do was sleep. Not only was running on very little sleep over the week harder than she thought it would be, but the fact that she had had very little sleep the weekend before made it even harder.

"Hi," Victoria said, surprised as she stumbled upon her parents and her uncle sitting at the kitchen table together looking over some files. "Everything okay? You guys are acting like someone just died."

Sam had an alarmed look on his face while Meredith shot her a "be very gentle" look. Dean on the other hand had an uncomfortable look plastered on his face that made Victoria chuckle a little.

"Sorry... is this about the whole... breaking of seals thing?" Victoria asked.

"Yes. Sorry, sweetie. We've been looking into it but no concrete news yet for you or Flynn," Meredith replied. She and Dean were waiting to tell their kids more about it until they had solid facts.

"It's okay. I get it," Victoria nodded, simply.

"How was school?" Dean asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Good. I'm going to go take a nap. I'll see you guys later," Victoria said, itching to escape the awkward tension in the room. She hurried upstairs, water bottle in hand as she went to seek out the comfort of her bed.

She knew she had closed the door to her bedroom when she had left this morning. Why was it open now? She froze, stunned to see a man in a tan trench coat, looking out her bedroom window. "What the-… Cas?"

She had only encountered Castiel, the family friend-angel, on occasion but it was still a shock and she couldn't help her reflexes that said: it's a demon!

"Victoria," he nodded, acknowledging her before turning around, a business only look in his eyes.

"Cas, you can't sneak up on a person like that!" she gasped, putting her hand to her chest to feel her racing heartbeat out of surprise.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"What're you doing here?" she asked. "Do you need my parents or-."

"No, I'm here for you," Cas said, before making his way towards her. Victoria opened her mouth to say something, not quite sure what he could possibly need from her before he interrupted her. "You need to go back and see where it all started."

"Where what all started?" she asked, confused. Before he answered, Cas' hand touched her forehead, and everything went dark.

HONK!

"Hey, get out of the way!" someone yelled out from their car as their car screeched to a halt, avoiding the possible accident. Victoria gasped, reeling from what had just happened.

"Thanks, Cas," she mumbled, looking up at the sky. She looked around the street, her surroundings all too familiar. Her eyes widened as she began to piece together where she was. It was Sioux Falls High School only different. The sun was shining yet it was pretty chilly out. Victoria hugged her paper-thin cardigan to her body. The grungy hair, the 90s haircuts, and the bad clothes... she could swear that she had gone-.

"Can you believe it?" Victoria heard a voice ask, causing her to jump. She turned around, still in shock. One minute he was sending her back in time, disappearing on her, and then reappearing. She couldn't keep up with this angel!

"Cas, where the hell am I?!" she exclaimed, her eyes wide, her mind racing and heart pounding. She stood in awe, gawking at the scenery. This wasn't possible, was it?

"February 1996. I can only retrieve you when you've done what I sent you here to do," Cas said.

"But what is that?" Victoria asked.

"Find out where it all began," Cas replied, cryptically.

"Okay, yeah, you said that but what does that mean?" Victoria asked. "Cas? Cas?" He was gone. "Damn it." Victoria took in a deep breath. She could kill him right now. She could barely get over the fact that she had time traveled let alone had to do school all over again. But if he wanted her to find out, she would. It was the only way to get out.

She looked both ways in order to not piss off yet another driver as she crossed the street over to the school. 1996. Victoria hated math but she wasn't bad at it. Her parents must've been... 16, 17? They were her age... now. What were the odds that they would be here? Tricky, Cas. Tricky.

Victoria pulled the door open to Sioux Falls High School and stepped in. Boy had it been different back in the 90s. The front office was to the right of the entrance and she made her way there. Victoria had been stirring up a plan in her head. She had to find her mother and stick with her in order to find whatever Cas was talking about. She knew she had to think and work quickly. She took a deep breath before pulling her hair up into a ponytail and buttoning her cardigan up higher. She wanted to look more like a goody-two-shoes first.

"Um, excuse me?" she asked, the pitch of her voice raised.

"Yes?" the woman at the front desk asked back.

"I just thought you should know, but a fight broke out all the way down in the East Wing of the school," Victoria started, innocently. "No one would tell a teacher so I went straight to the administration."

"Oh no... alright. Let me go see what's going on. I'll alert our disciplinary faculty," the woman said, shaking her head as she got up from her desk, and leaving her office. Victoria looked around. She knew she wouldn't have much time so she hurried. She went behind the desk quickly looking up a schedule.

Meredith Winchester.

Nothing.

Duh! Of course not.

She then began to type: Meredith Summers.

There!

Victoria's eyes scanned the schedule. 1st period US History, 2nd period English, 3rd Psychology, 4th Period Math, 5th Period Latin, 6th Period Elective: Creative writing. Bingo. She then quickly changed the name on the schedule before printing it out and escaping the front office.

The classroom numbers hadn't changed one bit so she knew exactly where to go. She made her way to the classroom that was her mother's first period class. Find out how what began...? Was Cas talking about this whole breaking seals thing? If so, she knew the only way to do it was to find familiar ground. She had to find her mother and... was she going to be able to meet Bobby?

Her heart began to pound in her chest at the thought. Well, that and the idea that she'd meet her mom at sixteen. That'd be... weird. As Victoria approached the classroom, she prepared herself for what she was about to see. She took a deep breath and headed into the classroom.

"Did you get number nine on the homework?" Victoria heard someone ask.

A group of guys erupted in laughter and girls were gossiping in the corner. Yep. This was definitely high school.

"Do you mind if I sit here? I'm new here. I actually just transferred in. A little late in the year, right? That's what I told my dad but he said it would be better for me here," Victoria asked, innocently.

"No, of course not," the blonde girl said, moving her purse from the desk in front of her. she had long, wavy, sandy blonde hair and was still stunning as always.

"I'm Meredith," the other girl said, sitting in the desk next to the blonde girl. "Meredith Summers."

"Molly," the blonde girl added.

"Victoria..." Victoria introduced herself, her eyes scanning the room. She then spotted the presidential chart of all the past presidents, striking an idea in her. "Victoria Roosevelt."

"Nice to meet you," Meredith said.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you had another long lost sister, Mer," Molly joked, looking from Victoria to Meredith. "You have to admit, she looks kind of like you." Meredith shot her a look. "What? Too soon? Sorry..."

"No, it's fine. I-, sorry, Victoria. I just recently found out I had a long lost sister which you so don't want to know about… Sorry, again," Meredith said.

"Small town, big drama, huh?" Victoria asked.

Meredith and Molly both exchanged glances, "Yeah."

"So what brings you to Sioux Falls?" Meredith began to ask.

"Dad got a new job," Victoria replied. "He-." But before she could continue, the teacher walked in, slamming the door behind him, ready to start class.

"Alright class. It's 8 am. Get your books out and let's begin class," Mr. Capulet announced. Victoria had a feeling that this was going to be interesting.

* * *

Victoria pinched herself under the table, still in disbelief that this was happening. She watched as her beautiful, sixteen-year-old mother threw her head back, laughing at a joke that her best friend, Molly had made. Everything written in her mother's diary was exactly on point. Molly was stunning and sparkly - the it girl that everyone wanted to be. She was flawless without even trying. Meredith on the other hand was beautiful, kind, passionate, and impulsive - although friendly, she noticed her mother was quite a pistol. Ethan was goofy, fun, and handsome as ever! Victoria was almost scared to meet her father at this age.

Speaking of…

At that moment, a tall, handsome, guy of sixteen with dirty blonde hair approached the table sliding right into the seat next to Meredith.

"Hey, baby," he smirked, leaning in to kiss her. Victoria tried not to react in any way as they kissed each other.

"Dean, public, remember?" Meredith giggled, pulling away.

"So?" he shrugged.

Wow. Some things never changed, did they? Victoria snickered a little, trying not to draw attention to herself.

"Dean, I want you to meet someone. This is Victoria. She's actually a transfer. Molly and I met her in our first period class and it's so weird! We just happen to have the exact same schedule so we've gotten to know each other quite a bit," Meredith introduced. "Victoria, this is my boyfriend, Dean."

"Ahh, the infamous Dean," Victoria chuckled. This was so surreal! "It's nice to finally meet you."

"You've been talking about me?" Dean smirked, looking over at his girlfriend.

"So?" Meredith asked back, mocking his pervious 'so.'

"Good things, I hope," he said.

Meredith only rolled her eyes, chuckling.

"Victoria, what did you say your father did again?" Meredith asked, curiously.

"He's a-," Victoria trailed off. She knew she wanted hint at being a hunter in hopes that they picked it up. Maybe they'd trust her and let her in. That's the only way she'd find out where 'it' began, right? "He's a traveling salesman." She watched as Meredith and Dean both exchanged glances. Bingo. She knew that'd tip them off.

Dean raised his eyebrows, "Yeah, uh, our family's in the same business. We're just temporary living with uh… um, well, he's sort of like an uncle to us."

"He sounds nice. Meredith told me about him," Victoria replied. "Bobby, right?"

"Yeah, actually," Dean said.

"You know, I'd love to meet him," Victoria started.

"Well-," Dean stammered.

"You know, that actually wouldn't be such a bad idea. I think he'd like you," Meredith shrugged, looking at Dean for approval.

Dean began to nod, "Yeah, it wouldn't do any harm, right?"

"Right," Meredith answered.

"So how do you like it here so far?" Dean asked, curiously.

"It's a lot better than I thought it would be. You know, moving schools all the time… it really sucks. Being the new kid becomes somewhat of a permanent thing, but I've felt really welcome here for once," Victoria started.

"I know how that is," Dean agreed.

"Meredith's really taken me under her wing today, so thanks," Victoria said.

"Oh, it's no problem. This one here went through the same thing so I'm used to it," Meredith said back, referring to Dean. "Sometimes I feel like the universal mother bird that takes in those of… traveling salesman…." She joked.

"Please, you love it," Dean teased.

"Are those common? You know… traveling salesmen through these towns?" Victoria asked, curiously.

"Kind of," Meredith answered, uneasily.

"Yes, Mer is like the mother bird and she and Dean are practically married," Molly interjected in the conversation, causing both Dean and Meredith to laugh.

"Molly always says that," Meredith explained with a laugh.

"What is it that everyone used to say? That we were going to get married at some point? When we started dating, it didn't surprise anyone," Dean added.

"Please, you two are so married," Molly pointed out.

"Someday," Victoria muttered to herself.

"What?" Meredith asked, shooting her a funny look.

"Nothing. It's just you two remind me a lot of my parents. That's all," Victoria said, innocently.

"Alright, well this is a lot of commitment for one day. No offense, baby. You know I love you, but marriage? Not right now," Dean announced.

"Oh my God, no! We're sixteen. Gross," Meredith agreed.

"Glad we're on the same page," he said.

"Mhm," she said back. He leaned in kissing her as she kissed back. He pulled her into a deeper kissed before she giggled and pulled away again. "Really?" She giggled at how into it he wanted to get right out in the open.

"What? I can't help it. We're on the same page… and that's so sexy…" he smirked.

Victoria averted her eyes, chuckling uncomfortably.

Some things really never do change.

* * *

"Hey, we're home!" Meredith called as soon as they got into the house. Victoria marveled at the place. It was no palace but it looked like a home – well lived in and reminded her of the center's library. She had butterflies in her stomach. She was finally going to meet THE Bobby.

"Kitchen!" a voice called back.

"I gotta take a leak," Dean said, before heading upstairs. Meredith and Victoria both exchanged glances, laughing as Dean took off.

"Hey," a short, brunette boy said, seeing both Meredith and Victoria. Victoria looked down.

"This is Sam. Sam, this is Victoria. She's new in town. Sam got home early from a field trip," Meredith introduced.

"Wow," Victoria said, her eyes wide.

"Hi," Sam said back, shooting her a funny look.

"I'll be back. I'm going to let Bobby know that you're here but you two stay and talk," Meredith said.

"Sure," Victoria nodded as Meredith disappeared down the hall towards the kitchen where Bobby had said he was. "Hi."

"Hi," Sam replied, uncomfortably.

"I'm sorry. I'm being weird, I know. I just… you're really short," she said in disbelief. She covered her mouth as soon as she realized what she had said. "I'm-, that's not what I meant! I mean, you're not short. You're totally normal for you age it's just that-."

Sam chuckled, "It's okay. I know. But the doctor said I'm supposed to be at least 6 feet by the time I stop growing."

"More like 6 4". I mean, not that I know that but my uncle was shorter when he was younger and now is like a giant," Victoria stammered, embarrassed that she had even said that.

"Oh, so now you're calling me a giant?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No. No! That's not what I meant," Victoria attempted to explain.

"I'm just kidding," Sam said.

"Oh," Victoria chuckled, uncomfortably.

"Alright who's this new friend here?" Victoria heard a gruff, man's voice ask as a bearded man in plaid and baseball cap appeared with Meredith at his side. This was it. Victoria was afraid that she wouldn't actually be able to get any real words out when it was her turn to talk. This man had been such a big part of her parents' lives and even Jude talked about him.

She opened her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"I-, uh, um," she managed to sound. "I'm Victoria."

"It's nice to meet you. You can call me Bobby. It's good to see Meredith making some new friends," Bobby said, glancing over at Meredith.

"Hey! My friends are just fine," she protested, jokingly.

"Just let me know if you need anything. I'm trying to fix the damn sink in here," Bobby said.

"It's nice to meet you too," Victoria said, her whole body feeling light as a feather. She didn't know what to say or do or anything… she just wanted to hug him.

"Victoria, why don't we go upstairs to my room?" Meredith suggested.

"Sure," Victoria mindlessly agreed.

"Come on," Meredith smiled showing her the way upstairs.

"This house is incredible," Victoria marveled, taking in every little detail of the house.

"You think?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah!" Victoria exclaimed, with a small laugh.

"This is my room," Meredith stated, as she and Victoria got to her room. She closed the door behind her. Victoria just stood, examining each aspect of the room in wonder. She could barely believe that she was standing in her mother's high school bedroom. "So I lied to you. Sort of."

"Huh?" Victoria asked.

"I know what traveling salesman is code for. You're a hunter, aren't you?" Meredith asked, excitement in her eyes.

Victoria knew she had to play the part so she looked surprised and began to mumble, "How-, how did you know?"

"I can tell. I've grown up around hunters. It's hard not to spot them anymore," Meredith shrugged. "Look, I kind of invited you over because I knew it. Not because I don't like you. I mean, you seem really cool but I thought that maybe, if you are staying in town for longer, you'd like to get to know some other hunters."

Victoria examined her mother's face. She was so kind, so passionate, loving, "Thanks. I-, I appreciate it. A lot, actually."

"I'll have to take you to the Falcon! The owner is practically like a mom to me and well she also used to hunt so-," Meredith started.

"Wait, how many hunters live in this town?" Victoria asked, amused.

"A lot, but most of them are retired," Meredith sighed happily. "This place is kind of a mecca for hunters."

"You seem… happy about it," Victoria noticed.

Meredith shrugged, "I mean, it keeps Dean here. And that's kind of his life right now. Any chance I get to be a part of it, I'll take."

"You and Dean seem really in love," Victoria said.

"Yeah, we are. It's hard when he has to go away on hunts. Sometimes I just feel like I'm waiting for him to leave for good… but he always comes back," Meredith said back, blissfully happy.

Just then, the two of them heard voices downstairs. Doors were opening and there seemed to be some sort of celebration.

"What's that?" Victoria asked.

"Let's go find out," Meredith suggested, giddily. Victoria exchanged glances, shooting a smile at her mother before the two of them raced downstairs to see what was going on.

"Dad!" Dean exclaimed as his dad pulled him into a short hug.

"I'm not staying for long but I just wanted to stop in for the night before going out again," the man replied. Victoria recognized him from pictures and her stomach did another flip. This was John Winchester.

"You can't stay?" Sam asked, disappointedly.

"I'll just be a couple more days," John replied.

Hm… could this be what Cas had sent her back to find out about? John's case?

"It's good to have you home, Dad," Dean chimed in, shooting Sam a 'be happy he's even here' look. Victoria watched, noticing the odd family dynamic. Damn, her family had this whole past that she barely even knew about. She had read about it in her mother's old diaries but seeing it was a whole different experience.

"Meredith," John smiled.

"Hi," she smiled back, giving him a hug.

"Kids, do you mind if I have a word with Bobby for a minute? After that, why don't we make lunch or something because I'm starving," John asked.

"Yeah," Dean complied, eagerly.

"Sure," Sam mumbled.

"Where's Sawyer?" John asked, looking around the room. At that moment, he noticed Victoria in the room.

"She went home with a friend. She's going to a sleepover," Bobby informed. "I've got the book you wanted, John. It's in the study.

"Good to know she's adjusting here then," John mumbled. "And who might this be?"

"Oh, Dad, this is-," Dean started.

"I'm Victoria... Roosevelt," she replied, a wide grin on her face as she reached out to shake John Winchester's hand. She couldn't believe she was meeting her grandfather! She had heard her parents and uncle talk about John - the good and the bad - and he was in Meredith's diary. This was all too surreal. She felt like such a fan girl but it was John Winchester! "My dad's a hunter and we stopped in town for a little bit."

"Huh, well good to meet you," John smiled back, shaking her hand. He let go and she just stood there, gawking back at him. She tried to make herself snap out of it because she knew she looked ridiculous, but it was no use. Bobby grunted, nodding towards the study before he and John left to go find the book.

"That's my dad," Dean grinned, proudly, as he introduced Victoria to his dad.

"Wow," Victoria marveled.

"Yeah, he's pretty cool," Dean chuckled. Sam only looked disappointed.

"Hey, why don't we go back upstairs? I had something I wanted to show you, Victoria. Dean? Sam?" Meredith asked, breaking the tension.

"Cool," Dean agreed.

"Okay," Sam said.

"Hey, I'm just going to get a glass of water, first, if that's okay," Victoria said.

"Yeah, sure," Meredith replied. "Here, I'll show you where-."

"Oh, no. It's fine. I'll figure it out," Victoria said.

"Okay," Meredith said back, exchanging glances with her boyfriend.

"I'll meet you guys up there," Victoria replied, heading in the direction where she saw Bobby come out of when she first met him. She made her way that way, getting some water and walking towards the study.

"I found some weird stuff, Bobby. Really weird. I'm going back out tomorrow to follow it," John started.

"What is it? A demon?" Bobby asked curiously.

"Something like that, yeah," John replied.

This was it. This had to be it. Victoria could feel it. Tomorrow morning, she'd follow John Winchester wherever he was going.


	12. Grown Up Hunt

Author's Note: Thank you so much again to GGOTHSPNfan, Deangirl93, and Dancing Dynasty for reviewing the last chapter. Here is the next one out a little later than I expected it to be. Again, reviewers of this chapter will be sent a small scene/sneak preview of the next chapter within the next few days as a thank you! You really don't know how much it means to me. So happy reading! Hope you guys like this chapter.

* * *

"Are you sure you can't stay longer?" Meredith asked Victoria as Victoria began to put on her coat.

"I'm sorry, I can't. My dad's probably wondering why I'm not home yet. He's not crazy about me mixing with others hunters. But what you've got going on here... your family, it's really cool," Victoria replied.

"Well, thanks. They're not too bad, huh?" she asked, chuckling.

Victoria shook her head, "They're... everything you said they'd be."

"What? Our family? We're alright," Dean shrugged, coming up behind Meredith and wrapping his arms around her waist, hugging her to him. She giggled as he kissed her on the cheek.

"It's true. You two really are going to get married someday," Victoria chuckled, not even realizing that that was something she possibly wasn't supposed to say.

"Someday," Meredith emphasized.

"Yeah, baby I love you but right now...? I don't think so," Dean chimed in.

"Yeah, right. Don't push it, babe. Like you're husband material right now," Meredith joked.

"What?!" Dean pouted, playfully.

"I said, 'right now.' No, you are a wonderful boyfriend, babe," Meredith tried to console, realizing her comment had struck an unintended chord with him.

"A kiss to make it up? Or more once our lovely guests leaves," Dean smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

"Yeah right," Meredith said, pushing him away from her playfully.

Victoria laughed, "Yeah, okay I think that's my cue to leave!"

"Okay. Well, see you on Monday," Meredith smiled, warmly.

"Yeah see you Monday," Dean added.

"Bye," Victoria said, letting herself out. Victoria reached her hand into her jean pocket to make sure that the car key she had swiped from Bobby's house was still there. She knew it was a car that wasn't being used and figured she'd need a way to follow John Winchester tomorrow morning. Holy hell. She would be hunting with her grandfather.

"Good thinking, swiping a key like that. You've got your parents' creativity," a voice said, causing Victoria to practically jump five feet into the air.

"Holy shit, Cas! You scared me!" she exclaimed, returning her breathing to normal.

"I never understood that. Do you say 'holy' because of me or is the shit really-," Cas started, causing Victoria to laugh.

"Not meant to be taken literally, Cas," Victoria said, beginning to walk towards the car she had seen parked out in front of the house - one of many that had been recently fixed up. She felt kind of bad about it, but she'd return it anyways. And besides, it was in the family, right? Cas began to walk with her as they continued to talk.

"Ah," Cas sounded. "So... follow John Winchester tomorrow. See what he finds."

"Wow, you just get right to the point here," Victoria joked.

"Yes. I do," Cas replied, straight forward and completely serious.

"Okay..." Victoria trailed off, laughing at the angel's lack of a sense of humor. Had he always been like this? "What's with this whole seals thing anyways? My parents aren't really talking... they say they don't want to until they know anything for sure."

"That's... not really a question for me," Cas sighed, hesitantly.

"Please, Cas," she scoffed, calling him out on his bullshit. "You send me on a mission and won't tell me what exactly I'm looking for. Okay, yeah, I get that. You don't want to give me the answer, but not telling me what I'm dealing with, doesn't sound like a smart move."

He nodded slowly, "When your parents were younger, Jude was still very young, they opened the gates of hell. It was an accident. They didn't know the last seal was-."

"Okay, seals. That's where you lost me," Victoria said.

"Sort of like tasks. Kill a reaper, rising of dead innocents hunters couldn't save. Complete, or break 66 of them and the gates of hell open," Cas explained.

"I see," Victoria pondered. "And they think someone is trying to break them again? Reopen the gates of hell?"

"Yes," Cas answered.

"Do you?" Victoria asked, curiously.

Cas remained silent, "I don't think I'm-. We don't know for-. Yes."

"You seem like you're a lot more sure than you want to be," Victoria noticed, studying his face.

"In heaven... they don't want to speak too soon," Cas informed.

"But aren't you the big guy in charge?" Victoria questioned.

"This is... something out of my control. Ahh, here we are," he said, wanting desperately to avoid this conversation so instead, he changed the subject once they reached the car. Victoria stuck the key into the lock on the car door before unlocking it. She opened the door and looked up and as soon as she had, Cas was gone. "Damn it, Cas! Seriously?!"

She slid into the car, shaking her head in frustration. Did he always have to be so cryptic? She glanced over in the passenger seat, finding an envelope with her name written on it. She opened it up gingerly, finding money in it. On the inside in messy scribbles was written: motel money. Ah. Thanks, Cas...

* * *

The morning fog wasn't too much of a bother as Victoria followed her grandfather in the car she had stolen - borrowed - from Bobby Singer. She laughed aloud at the thought. This was all too weird. She wanted to convince herself that she was dreaming but no, she knew that this was real - well as real as time traveling got.

She managed to stay a good four car lengths behind him and yet she knew she was speeding. She looked down at her speedometer. 75 in the 45 zone. So that's where Dad learned to drive...

Victoria blinked, attempting to stay awake. She fiddled with the radio until she got the tape in the car to play. Houses of the Holy - Led Zeppelin. Well, this would do.

Here goes...

* * *

Victoria waited for John Winchester to get out of his car and head into the abandoned barn. She parked a few spaces away from him before the turning off the car and grabbing the keys from the ignition and getting out of the car. She tiptoed towards the barn, making sure she wasn't heard. She hid at the corner of the front side of the barn, listening in.

"Winchester, good to see you," she heard a voice say.

"You too, Williams," John said back.

"As touching as this reunion is, you want to tell me why I'm here?" a third voice hissed, irritated.

"Right. We know you're working with the Yellow Eyed Demon," John demanded, sternly.

"Azazel? No... but close," the demon said back.

"You were there the night of December 12th, 1983 when the Danes house was attacked. You really trying to say that that was all a coincidence?" Williams asked.

"As much as I'd like to take credit for Azazel's doings, I'm too humble for that. He's building an army out there... hunters like you better be careful," the demon said, chuckling evily. His voice low and gruff although it didn't stop him from smiling.

"Fine, I guess we'll have to do this the hard way then," John said, exchanging glances with Williams. He took out a knife as then demon began to laugh.

"I thought a hunter like you would know better. That thing can't kill me," it mocked.

"Yeah, but it does hurt mixed with this," John shot back, dipping the knife into a bowl of holy water that Williams had set out previous to John's arrival.

Victoria shut her eyes as she heard the blood curling scream made by the demon. Damn, that must've hurt.

"Tell us who you're working for!" Williams demanded, giving John a nod to continue the torture. John pressed a cross against the demon's back before splashing some holy water onto its face. The demon screamed, panting and writhing as it tried to regain its usual composure.

"Ouch," he said, sarcastically.

"We could keep going. That's not enough for you?" John asked.

The demon began to smile, "I'd think twice before you do that. We've got a little visitor." With a flick of his hand, the barn doors swung open and Victoria felt her body being ripped from her hiding place and into the barn, joining the three men.

"Who the hell are you?" Williams demanded.

"You. What are you doing here?" John asked. He knew he should be angry but he felt a strange sense of protectiveness over the girl. Had she followed him here? So she was a hunter. A hunter with balls if she had the nerve to follow him here.

"I-," Victoria stammered.

As the men had turned their attention to Victoria the demon threw his head back beginning to leave its host body.

"No!" John screamed, turning around to see the demon leaving.

Victoria, quick on her feet began to speak an exorcism, sending the demon right back into the body. The demon looked around, shocked at what had just happened. He looked at Victoria, his eyes widening.

"Now are you going to talk or what?" Victoria asked, raising an eyebrow. Both men exchanged glances, impressed.

"Like I'd be afraid of a sixteen year old," the demon snarled.

"Well, now that you know you're not going anywhere," she began, referring to what she had just done, "I figured you'd want to do what the nice men are asking you to do." John moved towards the tied up demon again, dipping his knife in holy water and holding it to the demon's throat.

"Now talk," he growled.

The demon shook, "I-, he'll kill me."

"Yeah, if we don't first," Williams shot back.

"Tell us what the yellow eyed demon is up to. Where he is. If you're lucky, we'll find him before you do and maybe, just maybe, you'll get to live," John ordered. Victoria crossed her arms over her chest, watching the scene. Damn. Now this is what it was like to hunt with John Winchester. Her parents never let her do this kind of work and she had to admit, she felt kind of badass.

"I said I wasn't working with Azazel!" the demon yelled. With that, John pressed the knife to his throat, letting the holy water burn the demon, just enough.

"You want to change that answer?" John asked. Williams took the bowl of holy water, coming towards the demon before dunking its head in. The demon screamed in agony as it struggled to get away before being shoved back into the water.

"Stop. Stop!" the demon screamed. "I'm not lying! I'm not working for Azazel. It's someone else!" John and Williams exchanged glances before Williams let him go.

The demon caught his breath before continuing, "He's another demon. Well... half. Sold his soul in '89. Hell changed him. Half demon-half human. He was the righteous man who stepped up to the plate and began torturing souls in hell when he was asked to. He was smart... knew it was his way out."

So her mom was right. Someone, whoever this demon was working for, was trying to reopen the gates of hell... and had been since 1996. Victoria had an unsettling feeling in her stomach again. It was starting again and she knew it.

"Way out? How?" John asked, confused.

"It's the first seal to break," the demon smiled wickedly.

"Seal? To what?!" Williams asked, tense.

"The gates of hell," the demon replied, grinning from ear to ear.

John nodded, "Alright enough. I'm done."

"Why don't we let the girl with the fancy words do the honors?" Williams suggested.

John made eye contact with Victoria and nodded. She nodded back before speaking the exorcism, this time in the right order as the demon flew out of the host body, banished to hell for now. John checked the body for a pulse but there was nothing.

"Well, it's was good seeing you, Winchester," Williams said.

"You too," John nodded.

"I can take it from here. And who is this, John?" Williams asked.

"Uh, she's my uh, she's Bobby's niece. He asked me to take her out for him," John lied. He didn't know what it was, but he felt some kind of kinship to her and didn't want to throw her under the bus with Williams. He then glared at her. "I said stay in the car."

"Sorry," she mumbled, playing along.

"Come on. Let's get out of here. Bobby won't be pleased..." John sighed, lightly grabbing her by the arms and marching her right out of the barn. As soon as they were out of there, John let go of her, stopping.

"I don't know what the hell you were doing following me," John started.

"I overheard you and Bobby talking. It's just I-, I thought it was the demon that killed my mom. It wasn't..." Victoria trailed off, lying through her teeth. She had actually gotten good at this.

"Ah," John said, nodding. "Well, I'm sorry... for your loss. I can't hold it against you, I guess. Just don't like to work with other hunters when it's such a surprise like that."

"Sorry. I just figured if I had said something you would've said no. You're too young or something like that," Victoria replied, looking up at her grandfather in admiration.

"Probably would've. What the hell was that, by the way?" John asked, amazed at what Victoria had just done.

"What?" she asked, innocently.

"The demon went back into the host body..." John replied.

"I just said the exorcism backwards," Victoria shrugged.

John eyed her carefully, "Who taught you that?"

"My uncle and he taught my father," Victoria answered.

"Family business, huh? Well, your uncle and your father sound like clever hunters to me. It makes sense... how has no one tried that already?" John asked, chuckling to himself.

"I have no idea," she laughed.

"Well this was a dead end. Why don't we head back to Bobby's?" John suggested. "You may be young, but you're not too bad of a hunter. You've got good instincts. You've been hunting for a while?"

"I guess. My parents trained me but at the beginning it was all about instincts," Victoria replied.

"Kinda like Dean's girlfriend," John said. "You remind me a little of her actually."

"More than you know," Victoria mumbled, laughing to herself.

"Come again?" John asked.

"Uh... never mind. I was just-, never mind," she said, chuckling nervously.

"Alright then," John said, laughing a little as the two pretended like she hadn't said anything. Victoria looked up at her grandfather when she knew he wasn't looking, in amazement. It saddened her that she never got to meet him in her time but 1996 would just have to do for now. "Well, you did good, kid."

Victoria smiled, almost hearing it in her father's voice.

"Do I know you? I swear I could've seen you somewhere," John asked, a little freaked as he looked at her.

"Uh... I don't think so," Victoria shook her head. She wanted to tell him so badly but she couldn't. No wonder she felt so connected. Blood is blood.

John nodded, "Alright. Well, I'll be on my way. You headed back to Sioux Falls?" he asked.

"No, I don't think so," Victoria answered, reluctantly. This had all been a dream. She hadn't known had intense things had been back then, but she was experiencing them all first handedly now.

John patted her on the shoulder before sending a small smile her way, "Take care. And call if you're stuck on a hunt."

"Will do," Victoria answered. As much as she knew she couldn't stay, part of her wanted to. Aside from her parents being her age, she wanted to stay to meet more of Bobby and John Winchester and Andrea, even, ever since she had retired and moved to Florida. The goodbye was bittersweet but she knew she couldn't stay stuck in the past.

John got in his car before driving it off. Victoria stood by the car she had borrowed from Bobby and looked up to the sky, "Alright, Cas! I got what you wanted. Take me home."

And there was an ease to the words "take me home" as she said them. No matter how cool this was, 2031 was her home.

"You did what you came here to do," she heard a voice say. "I knew I did right in picking you." Right as she saw Cas, she felt a hand on her shoulder and everything was black.

* * *

Victoria squinted as reality began to settle in. She was in her room, laying on her bed at 1352 Sycamore Court: her home. A small lamp was left on and she checked the clock: 6 pm.

"Welcome back," she heard a voice say, causing her to snap up to a seated position.

"Damn it, Cas!" she swore, frightened.

"Good work," he said.

"Thanks," she said, hugging her knees to her chest as she, adjusted to being awake.

"Tell your parents. They'll get it. They'll know where to look," Cas said. With that, Cas turned around, taking a step forward, ready to leave so she stopped him.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. Cas turned back around to look at her. "Why me? Why'd you pick me?"

"You're the most available. Jude is getting married. He had medical school, a normal life. John is still working out the college thing and Flynn... Flynn won't want to be a hunter. He thinks he would now, but in a few years, that'll all change. I knew you'd do the job well. You're the most likely to thrive as a hunter right now," Cas said.

"Okay, what does that mean?" Victoria asked, weirded out by Cas' odd cryptic speech. And with that, he was gone. Victoria groaned, rolling her eyes. She'd never get used to that.

"Hey, sweetie, who were you just talking to?" she heard a voice ask, as her door slowly glided open, revealing her mother - and not the sixteen year old version.

"Nothing. No one," Victoria said, rubbing her eyes. Her mother shot her a look. "Well, Cas actually."

"Cas? What'd he want?" Meredith asked, curiously.

Until now, Victoria hadn't realized how overwhelmed she had been feeling lately. As much as she loved the thrill of the hunt, she hadn't had much time to be a kid lately and that scared her. It just felt like things were changing really quickly and she wasn't quite sure she wanted to let go of her life of semi-normalcy yet. Wasn't that what Cas had been hinting at anyways? That she was going to be the full time hunter of the family? Well, that scared the hell out of her.

"He sent me back in time to 1996 where you and Dad were sixteen and all over each other like always and I met John as in Grandpa John and Bobby too and then I had to follow Grandpa on some hunt where he was torturing demons and well, it all basically has to do with what you guys are hunting with the seals and the gates of hell and everything," Victoria blurted out. "I sound crazy, don't I?"

Meredith shook her head, "No, you don't. Cas sent us back a couple of times. You saw... what it is?"

"Sort of," Victoria answered. "I don't know, Mom. I don't really want to talk about demons right now. I mean, that and it's all we've talked about in the house ever since the hunts." Victoria was still reeling from her little adventure through time not to mention what Cas had just said to her. "Can we just-, have a demon free evening and make dinner? I'm starving!"

Meredith chuckled, "That sounds perfect. I think we all could use a little break from the demon talk."

"And maybe watch a movie? I could go for one of those romantic comedies that Dad hates so much," Victoria suggested. All she wanted right now was to be with family and for once, she'd admit that she needed her mom. She had a rough week and time travel? Yeah, she definitely needed her mom.

"Sounds perfect," Meredith answered with a small smile on her face. She could tell that her daughter was a little more needy than usual. But she understood. She had had a lot on her plate this past week with the hunt and then this other thing that Cas had sent her on. Meredith still didn't know how she felt about that. Victoria had had a lot of growing up to do in one week. Meredith was perfectly content on having mother-daughter time.

"I'm thinking mac and cheese," Victoria said.

"The homemade kind not the box kind?" Meredith suggested.

"Of course, Mom!" Victoria chuckled.

Meredith smiled before repeating, "Sounds perfect."


End file.
